Blades of Fate
by SteelBlades333
Summary: Shirou gazed at the ethereal figures before him, one dressed in pure white and the other dressed in pitch black. "I, SABER, UPON YOUR SUMMONING HAVE COME FORTH! Are you my Master?" ... Shirou's gaze lingered as his eyes widened, "A-Arturia?" (A fiction where Shirou goes back in time to medieval Britain as the team of Master and Servants begin to battle the very laws of Fate itself)
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Fate series, or any other series I write about in this site. Neither do I own the image on this story as well.**

* * *

 _ **Blades of Fate**_

 _ **Prologue**_

"Arigato gozaimasu," Shirou thanked the taxi driver courteously as he gave a bow of respect and politeness towards the man before shutting the car door while carrying a small bag in the other hand.

Once the taxi drove off into the distance, Shirou turned around and breathed in a deep breath of fresh Japanese air while closing his eyes peacefully as the sakura petals drifted through the air in the calming breeze. Opening back his eyes, Shirou gazed at the nostalgic road before him. How many years has it been since he's last been here?

Too long. That was all Shirou knew. It had to been at least ten years since he has even touched Japanese soil. Several years ago, he had gone to the London Clocktower and studied there under Rin's tutelage and the magi professors there as well. After a brief two years of study, he decided to separate from the Mage's Association as he went off on his own to accomplish his dream to become a Hero of Justice.

Going from war-torn countries to the most remote places in the world that are suffering from natural epidemics, Shirou went to them all, helping with everything he had to offer to the people. However, just as Archer had said to him in the distant past, it was impossible to save all.

The constant nagging dilemma to save the realistic majority and the idealistic all unceasingly bothered Shirou. Although Shirou knew that at times it was impossible to save all, it didn't mean he can't try. Even if this act of justice one day ends up breaking him to the edge of insanity, Shirou was going to make sure of one thing, that he is never going to regret what he's done. If he did, Shirou knew he will never be able to face Archer or Saber ever in the face again. Nor would he be able to see his treasured family and friends because of his weak resolve.

After all the years he has spent away from home aiding the world, Shirou was finally unable to do any more. Both the Church and the Mage's Association had somehow got everything under cover and Shirou was left without anything to do. Of course, Shirou did ask if both organizations needed to enlist his aid, however, to his disappointment both rejected his offer. Whether it was out of goodwill or pure unnecessity, Shirou for once felt like he didn't know what to do next.

It was through a digitally sent video recording created by Rin, Sakura, and Illyasviel given over to the Mage's Association for him personally did Shirou began to realize how long it has truly been since he's last seen them.

Seeing their familiar faces and personalities once more brought a warm feeling of nostalgia into Shirou's heart as he reminisced the recording that depicted the daily lives of whom he considered family.

* * *

"Is it on?" the familiar voice of Rin which has slightly matured since the time they've been apart resonated in the room she was in as Shirou stared intensively at her slightly aged facial features shown on the computer screen in a library he was at watching the video recording.

Walking away from the camera lens, Sakura was shown quickly scurrying over to where Rin and Illya were as she nodded her head in confirmation to her sister's question. "Yes, Nee-san, it's on," Sakura replied politely, now no longer using her sister's last name to address her.

"Um … okay, how do we do this?" Rin asked Sakura as Rin glanced at her, unsure of the ins and outs behind technology.

"Just say hi to Senpai, like you would with a letter," Sakura answered, apparently still having not gotten over with using the title she addressed Shirou with during their school years.

"Oh, is that so," Rin commented in realization as she breathed in and out while she gathered her composure together. "Okay, let's start!"

"Are we done yet?" the voice of Illyasviel interrupted right when Rin was about to open her mouth as Illyasviel pouted in boredom.

Rin was about to open her mouth in reply before Illyasviel once again beat her to the bell. "I'm hungry."

"—"

"And tired," Illyasviel added at the end right when Rin opened her mouth partway to begin speaking as Illyasviel gave an audacious yawn.

Nothing was spoken as a deadly silence permeated in the room while Rin eyed Illyasviel threateningly, making sure that she will speak no more.

"Shut ... up," Rin finally said slowly as she gave a sickly sweet smile while looking down at the white silvered hair homunculus.

"Hmph," Illyasviel's pout worsened as she crossed her arms in defiance while swinging her head to the side opposite of Rin. "You shut up," Illyasviel rudely retorted.

"What did you say, you brat?!" Rin asked as her eyes glowered at the "child" who has been a thorn in her side for the past several years.

"Nothing, Miss Tohsaka," Illyasviel scoffed haughtily, feigning politeness as Illya smiled evilly at her verbal counterattack.

Rin's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as she continued to smile at the spoiled Einzbern girl. After all those years of putting up with Illyasviel's nuisance, Rin was about ready to skewer Illya from head to toe, render her lifeless until she submits to her.

"I am so going to—"

"Kill me? Torture me? Or burn me at the stake alive in public view before gruesomely taking my poor mutilated body and stick it up in the pole for all to see as a public example?" Illyasviel blurted out almost too passionately as her words barely avoid being slurred together in an incoherent jumble.

"Wha—?! NO!"

"Tch, tch, tch," Illyasviel clicked her tongue in succession while wagging her finger in front of Rin's face as if reprimanding her. "It's not good to have those unpleasant thoughts," Illyasviel continued until she leaned over and playfully poked Rin's nose unexpectedly with an evil obnoxious grin. "Bad Rin," Illyasviel ended sweetly.

Rin didn't say anything for a moment as a shade of darkness covered her eyes while she glowered at the ground menacingly. The suppressing aura emitted by Rin spoke clearly of one that wants to kill.

"I-lly-a-sviel," Rin punctuated each syllable as she fixed her eyes straight at her lifelong nemesis with anger and fuming hatred. "That's it!" Rin snapped. "I am going to STRANGLE you, worm! ARGH!" Rin leaped onto Illyasviel as Illya scurried out of the attack's way as they both began a chase of cat and mouse in the limited spaced room.

"Ehehehe~" Sakura chuckled awkwardly, acting as this is an everyday occurrence as the camera continued to roll on without stop.

…

…

…

"Take eight," Rin announced, her eyes gloomy and devoid of color as dark patches made itself apparent from under her eyes. Even Sakura who hasn't done anything much herself seemed a bit winded as well. Illya … well, she remained Illya all along.

"Hi Shirou," Rin waved sluggishly as she gradually began to lose the perfect composure she was always so keen and worried about.

"Hi, Senpai," Sakura waved at the camera with a cheerful smile, further accenting the matured beauty that has grown on her throughout the years.

"Shirou," Illyasviel said when it was her turn. "When are you coming home?! I've been waiting for so long!" Illya complained audaciously.

Rin's eyes twitched dangerously as she struggled to keep her face straight when Illyasviel spoke out of turn. "So …" Rin dragged the word out, wordlessly shooting a glare at the homunculus nuisance, "how are you doing, Shirou?"

"Yes, Senpai," Sakura nodded her head in agreement. "We would all like to hear from you."

Illyasviel nodded vehemently at Sakura's statement. "Yeah, it's about time you got back home and ditch your Hero of Justice thing so you can play with me forever!"

The sound of Rin's teeth grinding on top of each other could be heard as Rin's facial muscles twitched uncontrollably. "You would never say that in front of Shirou's face, would you?" Rin asked Illyasviel coolly.

Illyasviel nonchalantly brushed her hair over to her side as she patted down her wrinkled dress to smooth it out. "Yes, I never would," Illyasviel answered.

"ARGH! YOU BRAT!" Rin gave an earth-shattering yell as she chased after Illyasviel, ready to beat the life out of her. "YOU DARE MAKE ME REDO THE RECORDING BECAUSE YOU SPOKE SOMETHING YOU'VE NEVER MEANT?! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Rin shouted a flurry of curses as she unleashed a barrage of Gradr shots in the room while Sakura eyed at the two chasing figures with an exasperated smile, as if there's no helping it.

…

…

…

"Take twenty-six," Rin groaned in front of the camera, no longer attempting to straighten her slouching exhausted back.

"Hi Senpai," Sakura began by taking the lead. "It's been a while since we sent you a letter, so I, Rin, and Illya have thought to come up with a nice recording for you."

"Hi Shirou," Illyasviel said just above a whisper for the camera to capture the nigh inaudible voice.

"Hi Emiya-kun," Rin waved her hand in front of the camera lens while giving what resembled as a smile … though a bit more forced.

"How are you doing, Senpai?" Sakura asked softly in a smooth soothing voice that showed her concern for Shirou's wellbeing in the most perfect way. "We hope you are doing well and we are praying for your safe travels. If you ever have the time, please come and visit us!" Sakura said with a cheerful beaming smile full of subtle anticipation. "I promise you I will cook the most mind-blowing meal you have ever eaten in your life once you come back!" Sakura exclaimed as she waved her arms outwardly in front of her as if showcasing something with delight.

"Sakura's food is a demon," Rin mumbled half-asleep. "It's too good …"

Illyasviel absently nodded. "But Shirou's better … always," Illyasviel added in the end after a short pause.

"Hey," Sakura pouted cutely. "I promised Senpai I will beat him the next time we meet together!"

"Anyway Shirou," Rin spoke aloud, this time her eyes looking straight at the camera lens, "we will be sending this recording to the Mage's Association, so once you come back to the association from wherever you're at, I'll send someone to give this to you when you get there."

"What's the point of telling him all this?" Illyasviel mumbled aloud while twirling her hair in boredom.

"Huh? So we can send him this message telepathically to his brain," Rin stated as if the question was obvious.

"Uh, Nee-san, I don't think you can do that with the camera. This isn't like magecraft," Sakura explained as lightly as possible, hoping not to offend her egotistic sister.

"Oh," Rin replied evenly. "Then in that case, why are we sending this message?! Shirou will never have the time to go to the Mage's Association and get to see this!"

"Cause you told us to, stupid," Illyasviel stated as she stopped twirling her hair. "Are we finished yet? This got boring a looooooooong time ago."

"Ugh," Rin gave a sound of frustration as she grabbed her head. "It doesn't matter! What's done is done. And if that reckless idiot manages to see this message in the light of day, he had better at least write us back!" Rin gave an annoyed sigh, probably wondering why she went through all that trouble recording a video as she continuously avoided the answer "because I'm worried" that constantly pestered her mind.

Rin stomped her way up to the camera that was on a table as she fumbled with the device, turning it around in all angles with keen examination.

"How do you turn this off?!" Rin shouted, frustrated at how such a device can escape the brains of a Tohsaka.

"You press the red button on the camera, Nee-san," Sakura patiently informed as Rin twisted and turned the device in her palms in search for her target.

"Ah, found it!" Rin exclaimed as she prepared to press the button.

"Not that one, Nee-san!" Sakura quickly rushed in to stop Rin's hands before she can touch the power button. "That's the power off button."

"Argh! Does it matter? Anyway, how do we delete the other twenty-five 'takes'?" Rin asked.

"That's … a little more complicated," Sakura began hesitantly.

"I'll figure it out," Rin interrupted with determination as she pressed every button combination imaginable on the camera, completely not discouraged or deterred in her resolve when she heard her sister's silent cries of dismay.

After several minutes of accomplishing nothing but disaster, Rin, the honorary proudful member of the Tohsaka family, gave up on the one impossible task that has ever so thoroughly defeated her … the camera.

"I hate this," Rin said with a gloomy expression that threatened the very lifespan of the handheld device in her palms. Setting the camera down onto the table ever so "gently", Rin called it quits as she glared at headache-inducing technology. "Just send it to Shirou already, Sakura," Rin virtually commanded as she stomped out of the room in a flustered anger, all of the reaction miraculously caught on tape.

Sakura gave an awkward chuckle at her sister's behavior while Illyasviel yawned openly before treading up the stairs with drooping eyes and a slouched back.

Sakura smiled at both of the retreating figures before looking straight at the camera lens with a beaming and somewhat exhausted smile as she walked over to the recorder and stopped the ongoing recording with a resounding click.

* * *

After witnessing the heartwarming video, Shirou promptly decided to use the time he had available for a short vacation back to his hometown in Japan and spend some quality time with his friends in whom he considered as family.

Shirou continued to saunter down the familiar roads and walkways, and in just a couple blocks away, he will be finally back home in the place that served as the base for the Fifth Holy Grail War. Resuming back his steps, Shirou tread along the spring scenery, the air freezing cold and the ground wet from the frequent rainfall recently. Everything was exactly how he remembered here. Oddly enough, nothing notable has changed throughout the passing years though Shirou is able to off and on pinpoint something that was not there before.

Turning around a curb on the road, a howling gust of wind blew straight at Shirou as his red and white hair ruffled messily at the biting cold wind while it stung his exposed face. Lightly treading forward, Shirou was finally greeted with the sight of his home entrance in full glory. Shirou gave a small smile at the sight, it seems like someone has been frequently maintaining the building while he was gone from home.

Without hesitation, Shirou opened the gateway entrance as he walked along the stone laid path going across his lawn to his front door. Shirou then slid opened the unlocked Japanese styled doors and proceeded to take off his shoes.

"I'm home!" Shirou called out in the house, making sure there was someone here.

However, Shirou was met with a deadly silence.

Glancing down, Shirou noted that two pairs of shoes were on the front porch, one that is a child's size which is unmistakably Illya's. The other one, however, could be any one of his friends, or maybe a friend of Illya's who he has never got to meet.

Stepping into the hallway of the house, Shirou reminisced the constant chaotic fiasco that happened among his close-knit friends during the Holy Grail War. Saber, Arturia, always collected and as calm as ever to the tsundere Rin who is always at war with the manipulative Illyasviel. And lastly, there was Taiga who always rocked the house with her extraordinary behavior and otherworldly actions to Sakura who is shy yet a really kind-hearted individual despite all that she's been through.

"Rin … Illya? Sakura? Anybody?" Shirou called out, his voice rising louder and louder with each name he said.

For a moment, nothing could be heard. However, with his reinforced hearing, Shirou could hear a flurry of chattering down the hallway to his left. Determined, Shirou quickly paced himself when he was finally able to locate the noise.

Touching the paper thin door in front of him, Shirou immediately detected a highly concentrated magical membrane across the door as if resisting him from entering.

" _A Bounded Field?"_ Shirou thought inwardly in surprise, and a very concentrated and powerful one at that too. And if Shirou had to guess, the bounded field is meant to make sure both outside and inside attacks won't influence the other side, a protective shield in other words but on both sides instead of the traditional one.

In addition, judging by the way the Bounded Field is constructed, Shirou knew from experience that this field is meant for warding outsiders away. Even Shirou himself, a magus, can feel its tugging and suggestive effects. This just tells you how much trouble the person constructing the Bounded Field has gone through for the sake of security.

However, Shirou, through battle hard experience, resisted the Bounded Field's effect on him through mana and pure willpower as he trudged on and slid open the light wooden door, fully prepared to trace Bakuya and Kanshou out and expect the very worst.

However, what he was not expecting to see is Tohsaka Rin and his sister, Illyasviel, rushing frantically back and forth in the room behind the door under a panicked frenzy.

"Hurry up, Illyasviel!" Rin yelled out, urgency clearly laced in her voice.

"I'm trying, ugly!" Illyasviel snapped as her eyes were filled with absolute concentration at the task at hand.

"It's going out of control," Rin tried to warn calmly though the fidgeting of her fingers gave away her true inner turmoil.

"Shut up! You're making this – ah – harder!"

"Oh no," Rin said gloomily. "Shirou is going to kill us if he ever hears of this," Rin said as she banged her head on the table in frustruation.

"Kill?" Shirou repeated uncertainly, already uncomfortable where the subject is heading upon entering the frenzied workspace. "Um, do you—"

Shirou was interrupted by an unware Illya who has surprisingly not yet detected his presence.

"Hey! Get over here and help already! I'm losing control!" Illyasviel shouted.

Rin quickly took out the gem she had in her arsenal and placed them hastily on the table before chanting a lengthy spell as mana began to get drawn out from the precious stone. The concentration of mana was so thick in the room that Shirou thought he could actually suffocate in that environment at a given rate.

"Rin …" Illyasviel warned, for once using the woman's real name as Illyasviel's voice began to falter and get higher.

"What!" Rin snapped, her brief moment of concentration now broken.

"It's about to—" Illyasviel said with a strained voice as sweat beaded on her forehead. Pure mana in the air that can almost be seen with a naked eye due to the immense concentration began to flicker uncertainly with multiple hues of colors.

"Almost done," Rin interrupted, her eyes blazed with intense focus.

"—go 'kaboom' …" Illyasviel trailed off as the mana in the air began to flicker faster and faster, growing hotter and hotter by the millisecond.

"What?!" Rin exclaimed again as she took her eyes off of the gems once she felt the quickly rising temperatures.

"What's going—" Shirou tried to voice his thoughts once again at the bizarre spectacle.

"I can't—" Illyasviel rasped as her hands collapsed onto her side in exhaustion.

Finally, as if by an immense pressure build up, like a geyser, mana expanded throughout the entire room in a split second before shooting out to its only exit that is not covered by the Bounded Field. The pure essence of mana then combusted at the sudden release of pressure as fire raced right at Shirou.

Shirou's eyes widened at the unexpected development as he hastily reinforced his body to its limits before the waves of flames hit him full force. The unmeasurable heat first hit him, then intense nausea proceeded afterward. Feeling as if the entire world is spinning, Shirou resisted the urge to vomit. It felt in every way like his brain got inserted into a blender.

Finally, after a minute of struggling, Shirou unwillingly passed out as his eyes closed to the sweet bliss of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Please don't tell me that was Shirou," Rin finally broke the five-minute stunned silence.

Illyasviel slowly nodded her head, her tongue completely dry and devoid of words. Even Rin's signature witty remarks were now no longer registering in her brain.

"What happened to him?" Rin asked. She had her guesses, but Rin wanted confirmation from Illyasviel.

"Since our production of the Jewel Sword of Zelretch was incomplete before it got destroyed halfway into the process, the immense amount of buildup mana would have either destroyed the blade itself or would have sent the aftermath of the destroyed sword to another far-off dimension. And considering the sword's ability to pull infinite possibilities from other parallel worlds into this world …" Illyasviel trailed off.

"Shirou may have been zapped into another world," Rin filled in the rest of the sentence.

Illyasviel numbly nodded.

"And we have no idea where he is in the infinite number of possible worlds," Rin continued.

Illyasviel nodded once more, her eyes staring blankly ahead.

Rin sighed as she placed her hand on her forehead. "Shirou is so going to kill us …"

Illyasviel, without a shadow of a doubt, nodded once more with melancholy.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **I hoped you enjoyed this somewhat lengthy prologue! Please tell me your thoughts on this chapter by reviewing! I will love to hear any comments, questions, suggestions, etc. you have in mind!**

 **Also, please make sure to check out my other stories as well which can be seen in my profile page. The most popular story being** ** _Fate Blade Zero_** **, a fiction where Shirou goes back in time to the Fourth Holy Grail War at the end of the Fifth War, and the second story being** ** _Apocryphal Hero_** **. Details can be read under the description/summary of the story page. Thank you very much! – SteelBlades333**

* * *

 **Japanese Word Translation:**

 **Arigato gozaimasu** **– Thank you (formal)**

 **Nee-san** **– Older sister (formal)**

 **Tsundere** **– This word** **is a Japanese term for a character development process that describes a person who is initially cold (and sometimes even hostile) before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1** **– "Master Again?" has been deleted and will be rewritten due to most readers being confused with the plot. This time, instead of starting off the chapter with Saber Lily's and Saber Alter's interactions with Shirou right off the bat, I will be starting with Shirou going back in time but right before he summons Saber Lily and Saber Alter. The new chapter will be out in a little over two weeks of time. Thank you for reading and I hope you understand! (Written on 7/23/2018)**


	2. Arturia

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Fate series or any other series I write about in this site.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1 – Arturia**_

Shirou groggily opened his eyes as his disorientated head made his vision blur and move in a nauseating, dizzy manner that enticed him to give in to the urge of vomiting.

"Ugh," Shirou groaned as he attempted to sit up from his lying position before a piercing pain shot up through his head as Shirou instinctively placed his hand at the back of his head in comfort. "Ouch," Shirou winced almost inaudibly as his body landed back into his lying position at the unexpected stinging sensation.

Hitting the hard cold surface as the dull aching sensation rippled through his scalp, Shirou rubbed his eyes to clear his blurred vision as his sight continued to increase in clarity. Lifting himself up once more from his lying position, Shirou this time succeeded in the task when he got past his initial surprise of pain that assaulted his skull when he first woke up.

Shaking his head lightly to rid of his sense of disorientation, Shirou scanned around his new dark and gloomy surrounding instead of the expected familiar wooden floor and traditional Japanese rooms of his house.

"Where … am I?" Shirou whispered under his breath as his eyes gradually began to get accustomed to the dimly lit space that is covered with stone walls on all four corners of the room save for the small door at the far right-hand corner from Shirou's position.

Standing up, Shirou dusted off his shirt from any small pebbles and debris that were sticking on him as he eyed the stone floor that had multiple fissures and cracks running through it with interest.

"Not concrete," Shirou noted in surprise at the fact. To see a building made simply out of pure stone is now a rare sight.

Turning around while lightly treading for the door, Shirou had to duck under an obstructing cobweb before continuing any further. Walking out of the exit of the cramped room, Shirou immediately took a right turn around a curb as he sauntered warily through the corridor.

" _This place is much larger than I thought,"_ Shirou absentmindedly thought to himself as the sound of his footsteps bounced off the stone-built walls and echoed in the building loudly.

Spotting a spiraling stairway to the side of him, Shirou hurriedly yet cautiously rushed over to the stairway as he prepared himself to trace out the twin married swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, at any given moment.

Stepping down the stairs as Shirou steadied his breath, Shirou was prepared to expect anything from the blind corner to his right as he immediately rushed in forward for precaution. Ready to attack any hidden assassin, Shirou was met with air as nothing except for a blank stone wall appeared before him.

Shirou gave a relieved sigh before putting his internal guard up once again. After coming back to Japan, Shirou was met with an explosion inside his house with Rin and Illya, resulting in him being unconscious afterward. Shirou remembered that much. However, upon awakening, he was met with a totally different and altogether unforeseen surrounding that put Shirou's mental and physical defenses up, ready to expect the worst case scenario.

Walking past the simple yet well-designed stairway, Shirou continued to stroll aimlessly around as his eyes darted left and right for security. Reinforcing his ears for a second and hearing absolutely nothing, Shirou decided to relent the pointless chase in this clearly abandoned building where the furniture was already run down and the building walls severely weathered.

"Huh? What's that?" Shirou murmured under his breath as he approached a small object on a dusty old table that has not seen the light of day for several years.

Lifting up the beads of string, Shirou gazed at the glistening sapphire blue object in his hand pensively. "A pendant?" Shirou murmured as his face made a contemplating expression.

Using his other free hand to touch another object on the table, Shirou picked it up as he brushed his fingertips on the golden bracteate that had an ornate design on one side of it. "And a golden coin," Shirou added with a lace of uncertainty in his voice.

Tracing his other hand down from the necklace string to the jewel hanging at the bottom of it, Shirou's senses suddenly assaulted him as his breathing began to become erratic and his chest heaved in labor while his legs wobbled weakly. The smell of a deadly curse immediately invaded Shirou's nose afterward as Shirou resisted the urge to gag. Swiftly dropping the objects in hand, it wasn't until after a couple tense seconds did the oppressive feeling subsided, leaving Shirou panting from "exertion".

" _What was that?"_ Shirou managed to get a coherent thought in his head after the powerful rushing sensation shot through his body. No doubt about it, by the way his body reacted and what he "smelled", the origin behind his intense reaction is bound to be magecraft. And a very potent one at that too. The concentration which Shirou has never witnessed or felt in his life before safe for people like Zelretch in the Mage's Association who can utilized Sorcery. But people who could use Sorcery were the rare minority, and if he remembered one of Rin's infamous lectures, it will be around five in the world currently who can perform True Magic, or in other words, Sorcery.

 _Downstairs_ , Shirou's senses continuously screamed at him as Shirou's legs moved unconsciously to the stone-built entrance to the side. Lightly kicking the heavy door as it swung open from its dilapidated hinges, Shirou entered into the pitch black room as a single source of dim light shone from where Shirou is at and into the unexplored space.

Entering without hesitation, Shirou suddenly felt a nagging pain in the back of his hand as he lifted it up for inspection. Widening his eyes in bewilderment, Shirou saw a set of three command seals in the shape of a sword instantly carving its runes on Shirou's hands. A powerful red glow ignited on the carved burning seals as Shirou gritted his teeth in slight pain before the glow finally died out.

 _A … command seal?_

Shirou couldn't believe his eyes. This was the exact same command seals he received upon entering into the Fifth Holy Grail War as a Master ten years ago. However, even after the Grail's dismantlement from the Mage's Association, here he was, ten years later to receive the identical set of command seals he thought were done away with permanently.

Impossible? Unfathomable? Preposterous? Indeed it was, however, hard evidence appeared right in front of Shirou, erasing any doubts or protests of illogical in his mind of the situation at hand.

Not taking his eyes off at the unbelievable sight, the red command seals engraved on the back of his hand suddenly blinked steadily as it glowed a soft red light periodically off and on.

This was weird, never did he ever have a command seal that blinked like this. The only time Shirou was aware when command seals begin lighting up is when a Master is about to or has already used a command seal. And Shirou was doing neither of these actions.

Disregarding the odd phenomenon, Shirou continued to advance in the dark room as the command seals on him served as a makeshift source of light for him to see and go in deeper. Spotting a camouflaged trap door on the ground, Shirou grasped the metallic handle as he hefted up the latch. Shirou strained his muscles when lifting it before finally opening a large enough space for him to get through. That trap door was much heavier than it lets on. He should have known that even this small and seemingly insignificant door was also going to be made from stone … hence the extreme weight.

Stepping down the narrow sets of stairs, Shirou made his way down until he caught a glimpse of an opening up ahead of him as his handy flickering light on the back of his hand guided his way. Glancing down back at his command seals to get a better view around him, Shirou noticed grimly that his command seals were gradually blinking faster and faster as he continued to make his way down the stairway. Something is clearly wrong.

Extending his hand out, Shirou scanned around his perimeter warily before approaching a massive space before him contrary to the narrow staircase he was walking through earlier. Surveying his new surroundings, Shirou detected out of the corner of his eyes another source of light to his left. Whirling around his body, Shirou slowly approached behind the stack of scrolls and lying parchments blocking his direct sight when he saw …

Shirou gaped at the impossible sight as a massive summoning circle similar in design to the one at the shed back home in Fuyuki appeared before him, blinking and flickering steadily, matching the tempo of the glowing command seals on his hand.

Gingerly approaching the summoning circle, Shirou extended his hand towards the shining runes on the ground before his right hand accidentally brushed against the outside edge of the magic circle.

The effect was immediate when Shirou felt mana instantly draining out of his body when a massive explosion proceeded afterward as a might gust of wind swept across the room, sending Shirou forcefully flying as he tumbled over his side several times before he managed to grab on to a secure stone ledge of a wall during midflight.

"Argh," Shirou gritted his teeth against the crushing pressure as the rushing air forced his eyes closed while debris on the ground were lifted up in the air forming a mini cyclone.

With squinted eyes as Shirou placed his forearm in front of his face to shield himself from the flying debris, Shirou's heart lurched in bewilderment when out of the summoning circle a figure surrounding by glowing molts of light began to appear out of it.

Shirou grimaced at the sheering pain in his arm as his Magic Circuits began to glow from the cool neon green color to an unstable red and orange hue, his Magic Circuits growing more and more rampant as time goes by.

Suddenly, as if by an immense pressure buildup, the magic circle began to glow uncertainly as its color changed from its cool shade of blue to a volcanic orange, waiting for an eruption. Abruptly, the summoning circle began to crack in the middle of it before it completely shattered much like Shirou's projections would.

However, what happened next made Shirou's eyes widened impossibly large when the shattered summoning circle had two smaller identical circles taking its original place, now no longer in its angry red color but a soothing crystal blue one.

Shirou felt something thrum in his body with immense power as his Magic Circuits calmed at the foreign yet familiar otherworldly force in his soul. With another blast of wind, Shirou promptly closed his eyes when his hand finally lost its firm grip as he was sent flying to the other side of the wall, smacking the obstruction hard on his sore back.

Shirou groaned in discomfort and he shook away his momentary disorientation to witness a calm serene room as the breeze quietly drifted in the air around the decimated basement. Looking farther back, Shirou's words got stuck in his throat when he witnessed two ethereal figures before him standing gallantly in their full glory on top of the summoning circle with their blades held rightfully beside them.

"I, SERVANT SABER, UPON YOUR SUMMONING HAVE COME FORTH!" both of the identical looking yet contrasting Servants declared with boldness and an unwavering gaze fit for a king.

Both Servants, one who is dressed in a pure flawless white while the other gowned in a pitch black armor, then gazed straight at Shirou as they said their next words that will change Shirou's entire life from henceforth.

"I ask, are you my Master?"

"A-Arturia?" Shirou croaked as he gulped at the sheer absurdity of the sight. Here he was, coming home expecting a nice family reunion only to get thrown in an abandoned house after being unconscious for who knows how long to later discover he had somehow unwittingly gained a command seal and summoned not one, but two Servants! What … is going on?!

The twin Servant shifted their gaze as they glanced at the absolute runes engraved on Shirou's hand as they nodded in confirmation at the sight.

"Henceforth my sword will be at your side," the Arturia dressed in white spoke as her sword brightened for a second at her declared words.

"Henceforth your fate is my fate," the black Arturia spoke monotonously as the grip on her jet black blade with bloodthirsty red intertwining lines blazed with power.

"The pact is now sealed," both Servants uttered in unison as the two contrasting swords shone with radiant and miasmic power before dying out and reverting back to its original tranquil state.

Nothing was said for a moment as Shirou was stunned silent. Finally snapping out of his trance, Shirou shook his head vigorously as he stood up back on his feet.

"Sorry about that," Shirou apologized at his lack of action as he chuckled awkwardly while patting down the back side of his pants. "My name is Shirou, Emiya Shirou," Shirou approached the dual Servants as he extended a hand out in their direction.

Arturia who is gowned in feminine white armor and with a black ribbon tied around her hair in a ponytail to complement her dress met Shirou's handshake midway with a soft gentle smile. Seeing Arturia behaving and dressed this way made Shirou blush slightly at the contact, finding this experience to be almost surreal. Here he was, ten years later, to meet the partner who saved him and made him the man he is today once more.

"Shirou," the white Arturia rolled her tongue to pronounce the foreign name. "I like the sound of it," Arturia complimented. "I will then call you 'Master Shirou', Master!"

That … was a much more enthusiastic response than he expected from a person like Arturia.

"Just Shirou is fine," Shirou reassured with a smile as he let go of Arturia's hand naturally.

Arturia adamantly shook her head at Shirou's request as she pouted slightly with dissatisfaction. "No, I must not, Master Shirou! I will never dare as to be so rude to address my sole Master in that manner!" Arturia exclaimed.

It seems like he had completely underestimated the tenacious enthusiasm Arturia had. Was she always like this in the past? Shirou doubted it.

"Shirou is really fine," Shirou reassured once again.

"Master Shirou, to address my one and only Master like that will break my upholding vow to the Code of Chivalry! Please do not dishonor your Servant's humble request," Arturia asked as she gave a bow before Shirou.

That … was a bit over the top. And what kind of code was that?! Isn't it a general rule of thumb to obey your Master whether or not it's a command? It seems like Shirou will be needing to work on that "Code of Chivalry" of hers until he finally gets her to properly use his name without the honorary title attached to it which he found extremely disturbing especially when it's coming out from Arturia's own mouth.

Shirou mentally sighed. "If that's what you wish," Shirou replied to Arturia which Arturia returned with a beaming radiant smile which made Shirou dumbstruck at the rare sight.

Snapping out of his momentary trance, Shirou turned to the other – Shirou felt a headache coming along when he thought about it – Arturia as he likewise extended a hand in her direction.

Completely different than the other Arturia, she was gowned in pitch black armor with blood red "veins" seemingly running across her body, her pale face and hair accompanied with dead golden eyes that promised to kill if anyone defies her then met Shirou's own gaze dangerously. Unlike the other Arturia, she was completely cold-blooded and emotionless, truly worthy of a position of a longstanding tyrant.

"I'm Shirou," Shirou introduced to the stoic and pale Arturia.

"Shirou," Arturia stated evenly as she subtly nodded in acknowledgment.

Waiting for a few awkward seconds in the stretching silence, Shirou shrank back his hand away in uncertainty when Arturia didn't bother meeting him midway with a friendly shake. Her entire existence here spoke of hostility. At the very least, this Arturia seemed to have no qualms of calling him by his first name, something which he was grateful of.

By the looks of it, both of these Arturias operated under their own different "Code of Chivalries" … if there was ever more than one to begin with.

"So, you're both Sabers, right?" Shirou asked in an attempt to rid of the prolonged silence and tense atmosphere.

The white Arturia nodded while the one dressed in black merely glanced at him as if he were the stupidest man on the face of the earth.

"Hmmm," Shirou hummed in a thoughtful tune. "That will pose as a problem, I can't just call you both Sabers …" Shirou trailed off.

"Do not fret, Master Shirou!" the white Arturia exclaimed, eyes glinted with newfound joy. "You may call me Lily!"

"Lily," Shirou repeated under his breath with pensive thought as he gazed over Arturia's unblemished figure. It's no wonder she called herself Lily, especially when she resembled one herself by her white dress and her pure attitude. "That will work," Shirou said as he committed the English alias to memory.

"And what about you?" Shirou tentatively asked the frowning black Arturia by Lily's side. "Do you have a preferred alias or does Saber suit you?"

The seconds dragged on as the sound of air whistling through the cracks and fissures of the stone room could be heard. "Alter," the black Arturia finally answered evenly.

"Alter," Shirou reconfirmed, not exactly sure where she picked up that alias or why she chose it.

"Okay," Shirou announced before pointing in Lily's direction. "Lily," Lily nodded when Shirou pronounced her alias correctly, "and Alter," Shirou turned around to point at Alter to which she blinked in response, indicating in her own subtle cold way that Shirou had got the alias down.

Although Shirou wouldn't mind spending some time chitchatting with the girls who bore the same exact resemblance as Arturia, Shirou needed to reconfirm something.

"You both are …" Shirou hesitated at the absurdity carried in his next word, "Arturias, right?"

Alter nodded as Lily hummed in agreement. "Yes, we are Arturia Pendragon," Lily declared.

Ah, so this was going to be a headache after all …

Dismissing the mind-boggling thought, Shirou proceeded to ask another critical question. "How … did I summon you two?"

The Grail has been officially dismantled a couple years back due to Tohsaka's and Lord El-Melloi the Second's strong protest and insistence. But it was not until finally through the direct – and nonchalant – intervention of the Wizard Marshall, Zelretch, did the argument came to a close with the Grail's dismantlement becoming official.

However, here Shirou was, dragged into yet another war for the Holy Grail. And unlike the number of flawed replicas of the Holy Grail which Shirou had come to destroy several times during his journey as a Hero of Justice, he was able to summon not one, but two perfectly sane Sabers, something which a fundamentally flawed Holy Grail would most definitely not be able to accomplish.

Lily lightly shrugged at Shirou's question, "I was dragged under a summoning circle during my grand country-wide tour with Merlin and Kay," Lily answered. "What happened afterward I don't remember," Lily spoke as she placed her fingertip on her chin in thought, "but that I was being summoned by a 'Master'."

"Is it the same for you too, Alter?" Shirou courteously asked as he looked over at the silent Alter.

Alter nodded her head as she answered with a hint of annoyance, "Yes."

She's … tensed, Shirou decided to use the most appropriate word to describe the seemingly unapproachable Arturia in front of him.

Shirou sighed at both of the confirmed answers. "So both of you don't know what got you here, then."

Lily shrugged with an unknowing frown as Alter looked at Shirou intensely without batting an eye.

"In that case, do you both know where we are right now?" Shirou proceeded to inquire.

"No, we don't. We just arrived here, Master Shirou," Lily stated straightforwardly with an innocent smile as if wondering why in the world would Shirou ask such an odd question. "Why do you ask, Master Shirou?" Lily continued with a question.

"Well, it's just that I don't know where I am right now," Shirou revealed as he scratched the back of his head in pensive thought. According to what he's heard from Lily and Alter, it seems like the likelihood of another Grail similar to the one in Fuyuki City ten years ago existing was becoming more and more unlikely. Not only are these two "Heroic Spirits" still alive before the summoning, but also the imparted knowledge that the Grail like the one in Fuyuki should have given to them is completely nonexistent. They have no idea why they're summoned, no knowledge of the modern world, and lastly, they have no clue of their current location.

The only minuscule indication that a Grail – if it's even remotely like the one he's used to – exists is through the sole fact that they are aware of their status as a Saber Class Servant. Whether they possess the superhuman speed and strength of a Servant, however, is something Shirou still needs to put to the test.

"Anyway, we had better get going," Shirou spoke as he noticed the glowing light shining on his command seals gradually dying away after the summoning. "Lily," Shirou suddenly addressed.

"Yes, Master Shirou?"

Shirou resisted the urge to sigh at the unaccustomed title. "Do you mind if you use your sword to light the way?"

"Of course," Lily answered as she manifested Caliburn into her hands and exerted a drop of mana through the blade from her massive pool of magical reserves.

With the trio of Master and Servants walking side by side together, Shirou was able to easily navigate his way out from the destroyed cellar with the burning light of Caliburn. Lifting up the overhead trap door once he hit the ceiling of the basement, Shirou proceeded by lifting up the heavy stone slab before stepping up to the ground floor. Turning around while Shirou habitually offered a hand in Lily's direction to help her up, Lily smiled and gratefully accepted Shirou's lending hand despite her status as a Servant.

Upon Alter's turn to walk up the stairs, Shirou did the same to her albeit with slight hesitation due to her cold demeanor. But to Shirou's disappointment, she promptly refused his kind extended offer without bother acknowledging his goodwill or spare him a split-second glance. Withdrawing his hand so that it will not impede Alter's walk up, Shirou then led the group around the room until he finally spotted a source of light shining out through a moderately large wooden door than that he was used to seeing here in the stone mansion.

Reaching the exit, Shirou's senses blared again with sensitivity as Shirou felt a highly concentrated membrane around the entire house.

A Bounded Field, Shirou realized with a troubling face. What could this all mean?

Disregarding the momentary observation, Shirou trudged on forward and out of the resistant field while half-expecting an all-out attack coming at him from nowhere. Exhaling in relief to see that the bounded field had no countermeasures against people who come from the inside out, Shirou's eyes bulged out impossibly wide at the stunning and completely unforeseen view that is now in front of him.

With trees upright and standing still, Shirou is met with a magnificent sight of a spruce tree forest with the afternoon sun shining down on its earthly inhabitants. Perking up his ears, Shirou could also hear the euphoric melodies from the birds as they darted right and left through the maze of trees. The view was simply stunning and beyond what mere words could describe.

"Ah," Lily approached Shirou as she gave an exuberant smile, "is that not beautiful, Master Shirou?"

Shirou numbly nodded, the word beautiful was a huge understatement. It almost made him wonder why the owner of the house abandoned the building to forsake such a heavenly place. If not for his friends in Fuyuki City, Shirou himself would have seriously considered about moving here permanently if not for his duty and dream as a Hero of Justice.

Shirou was about to continue forward down the thin dirt trail that ran across the forest grounds before a woman with bright golden hair that gleamed charmingly under the sun while her draping hair and gray linen dress swayed in the chilly breeze emerged out of the foliage thicket from the side of the trail.

Shirou was immediately on high alert upon seeing the woman in the middle of nowhere when the lady with piercing hazel eyes glanced then stared straight at them before a tugging smile graced her lips.

"Oh my," the lady began as she placed her hand on her mouth almost predatorily, "what do we have here?"

Lily and Alter immediately drew their swords as they both stepped up forward on either side of Shirou protectively.

The woman's smile didn't relent at the discouraging actions as she gave a swift bow while lifting up the hem of her dress lightly. "Forgive my intrusion, it seems like I have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Anja Brynhild Edelfelt."

"Edelfelt?!" Shirou exclaimed at the familiar last name. This was exactly the same last name that Luvia – commonly known as Rin's well-hated rival – bore as well!

The woman nodded when she mistook Shirou's exclamation as a question. "Yes, magus. I am the mage of the Edelfelt family. But you may call me Anja."

Shirou whirled back around behind him, "Then does that mean …" Shirou trailed off when he saw there was absolutely nothing behind him but the same forest environment all around him. The abandoned stone built building they were roaming around not even a minute ago was gone without a trace of its existence.

The lady who called herself Anja nodded as her straight golden hair that twirled a little at the end draped across her shoulders slightly. Aside from her last name, the lady's body features also reminded Shirou of the Finnish descent Luvia possessed. "That will be my house," Anja said as she pointed at the forest behind the trio of Master and Servants.

"But—"

"It's a Bounded Field," Anja spoke as if it was obvious. "A Bounded Field capable of camouflaging itself in its environment," Anja further explained as Shirou began to see ripples in the forest where the house was supposed to be before the projected image disappeared, replacing it with the weathered down stone fortress.

Shirou numbly nodded in understanding. Although it was different than Saber's Invisible Air that sheathed her blade Excalibur back in the Fifth War, it was still able to produce a similar effect by camouflaging the object around its surrounding, making it virtually but not perfectly invisible. Shirou should have expected nothing less from the long-standing line of mages of the Edelfelt family.

"So," Anja continued as she fixed her hazel eyes closely on Shirou, "you are the man who successfully summoned the two Servants."

Lily and Alter immediately tightened their grips on their swords, their intentions clear as day on what will happen to the Edelfelt mage if she crossed the "line".

"Ah, don't be like that," Anja waved her hands dismissively at Lily and Alter's protective behavior. Shirou himself was surprised to see Anja holding her composure so well despite Alter's deadly glare fixed on her which Shirou was sure can even petrify the strongest men if Alter really tried. "Please, come on in," Anja gestured as she walked on pass Shirou and the Servants. "I will make a bad host if I don't invite my guests."

"No thank you," Shirou swiftly replied, leaving no room for arguments. In the distant past he would have simply followed in with the seemingly nice and beautiful lady that appeared before him. However, after ten years of non-stop molding in his character and experience, Shirou has learned better than to immediately trust a person upon meeting them. In addition, no mage will be foolish enough to walk right into another mage's house upon their first meeting. A mage's house is essentially their own fortress, to walk into another mage's household is equivalent to suicide if you fight there.

"Is that so?" Anja asked as she peered into Shirou's eyes once more. "In that case, do you want to walk with me to the village?"

"Village?" Shirou asked. He knew he was definitely not in Fuyuki anymore, but how far away was he?

"You came here intruding my home without walking past a village?" Anja asked as she gave an amused subtle laugh. "Interesting. But we are going to the village, Lund, which is about fifteen minutes away by foot."

Although Shirou wasn't entirely enthusiastic about walking alongside a potentially dangerous mage of her power to the village nearby here, Shirou decided to indulge the woman seeing that not only does he possess the upper hand with two Servants beside him, but also Shirou hoped the lady named Anja will be able to answer the few questions he had in mind, including the existence of another Grail and her relation to Luvia.

Treading down the narrow dirt trail that ran through the dense forest, Shirou began to see the number of trees gradually thinning out as they continued to advance forward before coming in sight of a small orchard before them with countless plants' flowers all blending together in a gorgeous hue of several different colors.

"Like what you see?" Anja gave an amused grin as a soft chuckle escaped her lips.

Shirou could only gaze in wonder at the amazing sight, even Lily was enraptured by the beauty of it with Alter glancing occasionally at the variety of trees, gracing the sight her momentary attention.

"We're almost there," Anja announced in the standstill silence as she gestured the small clearing up ahead.

Emerging out of the forest, Shirou widened his eyes at the completely exotic and unfamiliar scene. Before him, as accurately named by Anja, was a village with rows of wood houses with hay roofs. Off to the far right side, Shirou was also able to spot a distinct longhouse built with the same natural materials as the other buildings.

In short, this looked in every way like he was reliving the Medieval times.

"Ah, looks like they're selling today!" Anja suddenly exclaimed in excitement. "Hurry along! I need you to help me carry the materials," Anja declared when she reached out to grab Shirou's hand until she was forcefully stopped midway when Caliburn's edge hovered barely above Anja's wrist.

Slowly retracting her hand cautiously, Anja frowned in dissatisfaction. "Tense …" she grumbled as she walked on ahead with Shirou and the Servants following behind.

Shirou had to agree with Anja's statement despite not being acquainted with her. That move Lily pulled out was really something serious. Aren't they being a tad bit too protective? He could, after all, handle himself in a close quarter combat – which is where he typically held the advantage – against most mages.

Catching up to Anja, Shirou witnessed a brief exchange of haggling and a short conversation before Anja finally got what she came for – strands of undyed linen.

"You weave?" Shirou asked in a mixture of interest and just simply hoping to initiate some sort of conversation between them.

Anja nodded tacitly. "Only when I need to."

"If you don't like to make your own clothes," Shirou began, "why not buy one instead? Is it not much easier and more convenient?"

Anja glanced at Shirou with a questioning gaze before scoffing. "Did you forget where we are? Up here in the north? Impossible! If I were still living in Britannia I would be able to, but no longer here in the village."

"Britannia?!" Lily's eyes suddenly glinted with untold excitement. "So it's still here?" Lily rushed over to Anja without any heed of caution as her eyes seemingly begged for an answer.

"Britannia?" Shirou murmured at the familiar sounding word. Wasn't that the name of Britain during the Middle Ages?

"Of course," Anja replied without hesitation. "Britannia has been around here for a while, however, last I've heard, the Anglo-Saxons are becoming more and more persistent and aggressive in invading Britannia. But sovereign King Arthur is holding his ground well against the Saxons. It has even been reported that he has never come out of a single battle injured!"

Shirou felt a sinking feeling settling in his stomach. He didn't hear that correctly, did he?

"Ehhh," Lily made a sound of wonder. "So King Arthur still exists?"

Anja made a strange expression at Lily's odd statement. "Of course, why wouldn't he?"

"Anja," Shirou tentatively addressed.

Anja veered her head backward to meet Shirou's golden amber eyes.

Shirou hesitated before speaking. "Do you happen to know a person by the name, Luvia or Luviagelita?" Shirou asked, deciding not to add the last name "Edelfelt" to avoid confusion if she didn't recognize the name.

Anja made a contemplative expression as she pensively thought. "No," Anja shook her head. "Never heard of a person with that name. Is it a person you know?"

Shirou felt a part of his heart plummet as gloomy dread replaced its empty chambers. Two Servants, Anja Edelfelt, ancient stone and wood-built buildings, Britannia, Anglo-Saxons, King Arthur, and the lack of knowledge about the modern world, all of these facts pointed to one grim truth … Shirou had unwittingly transported back in time.

He didn't understand how this was possible, but the sheer fact and evidence that laid there right before him straight in the face is undeniable. The last thing he remembered before going unconscious was coming back home to see Rin and Illya scrambling frantically doing something … dangerous when an explosion blasted right at him. Shirou couldn't possibly imagine Rin and Illya having the ability to do something as impossible as going back in time which requires the ability to use True Magic. However …

Shirou thought back to a certain ancient magus that is the head of the Mage's Association, the Wizard Marshall, Old Man of the Jewels, the Kaleidoscope; but ultimately, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the man who is the wielder of Second Magic. With that unpredictable – and often times spontaneous – old man, almost anything was possible and within reach for Zelretch. And Shirou is beginning to find the prospect of the culprit of his "going back in time" predicament being Zelretch becoming increasingly high.

"It's a friend I knew long ago," Shirou answered Anja's question after a momentary pause as he reminisced about his time at the Clock Tower during his two years with Rin and Luvia. "She bears some resemblance to you," Shirou continued. "I was wondering whether you two know each other."

Anja hummed in understanding before pointing in a direction of a wooden building that had a lot of muffled noise coming out from it. "Would you guys like something to drink?" Anja asked with enthusiasm.

Speaking of drinks, Shirou could really begin to feel his parched throat itching at the dryness. How long exactly has he been unconscious? Was it a day … or more accurately a millennium?

"Sure," Shirou immediately answered, "but …" Shirou trailed off when he realized he didn't have the village's currency.

"Don't bother paying," Anja said with a warm smile. "I'll treat you just this time," she said with a wink that made Shirou blushed a slight red at the unusual action. Do girls usually act this boldly? Or was a wink a commonplace in this time and culture? For some reason, Shirou doubted the latter.

Opening the door to the local tavern, Shirou felt a wave of putrid aroma assaulting his sense of smell as Shirou resisted the urge to gag at the odor while Anja, Lily, and Alter waltzed in the space as if they never noticed the smell or it simply didn't affect them.

Resisting the urge of covering up his nose with the sleeve of his shirt, Shirou trudged on forward with a passive face that masked his true inner turmoil. Another wave of odor hit Shirou full force once again as Shirou began to feel the early symptoms of nausea settling in his stomach. This. Place. REALLY. Reeks!

"What would you like, Master Shirou?" Lily asked as she placed her hand gently on Shirou's shoulder, snapping Shirou out of his momentary trance.

"Uh … water?" Shirou said with a lace of uncertainty. Would water be served around here, or did they just drink from a nearby stream or well?

Lily cocked her head sideways cutely in confusion. "Master Shirou, are you sure? Water is not very pleasant tasting," Lily cautioned.

Not pleasant tasting, Shirou repeated grimly in his mind. That could only mean the water here is not clean or at the very least has been sitting around some unpleasant environment for a while.

"Then … milk?" Shirou brainstormed for a non-alcoholic beverage this tavern most likely will have.

"Milk?" Lily made a thinking expression before nodding her head in determination. "I'll go tell Anja about your order, Master Shirou."

Which … definition of "order" was she using? Shirou just desperately hoped the seemingly overly innocent girl did not mistake his order for a cup of milk as a command. That will only end up horribly for him.

While Lily was skipping over Anja's direction as her plated armor jingled in the noise-filled tavern, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her wrist as Lily widened her eyes at the sudden direct contact.

"Hey Lady," a man addressed Lily with a dazed and hollow look as his voice barely avoided being slurred. "Gotta minute?"

Lily nodded while smiling gracefully. "Yes," Lily replied, "what do you need?"

Shirou gaped at the good nature attitude Lily carried despite the forcefulness of the man earlier. Did she not notice trouble kilometers away when she saw the man's drunken expression and his awfully red face? Shirou was tempted to barge into the conversation and get Lily out of there, but Shirou was quick to remind himself that Arturia is not a child, she is the legendary King of Britain. She should definitely know what she's getting herself into.

"Whaddya say yer buy me a drink and I'll tell no one 'bout it?" the man asked with mischievous eyes and an ugly obnoxious smirk.

"Huh? But I don't have money though," Lily stated simply.

"Bah," the man spat out with disdain. Shirou is quickly beginning to see things escalate badly really fast. This man is clearly mentally unstable right now to be capable of any rational thinking.

"Yer over there!" the man bellowed loudly. "You too, yer' her sister, right? Buy me a drink and I ain't tell anyone about yer breaking the law!"

" _The law?"_ Shirou pondered in thought. What law are they talking about that is getting Lily and Alter in trouble. Shirou shrugged off the thought, it was probably best not to take a drunk man's word to heart.

Alter turned her head around as she glanced at the drunk man with unforgiving cold eyes. The malice and pure killing intent emitted from her look alone immediately brought a stun silence throughout the room as everyone was petrified in their seats, not even able to utter a single word in response.

"Hurry it up! Or do yer want the village to know yer are wearing men's armor?" the drunkard continued to demand as he spat out a string of curses afterward, the man being too busy in a confused daze to even register the look Alter was directing at him.

"You dare order a king, peasant scum?" Alter asked coolly as her ruthless and malicious eyes peered through the man's own.

Shirou could begin to see everybody's face in the room paling and even some notable trembling can be seen from the group of men in the room. Even the once composed Anja had a pale and worried frown making its way up her face.

"Woman, gimme more ale!" the man commanded as his words slur while he stood up from his chair and attempted to get within touching distance of Alter.

 _Uh oh. This is NOT good!_

The man was about to place his filthy dirtied hands on Alter's black shoulder plate when Alter veered her head and directed a deadly glare at the drunkard's direction.

"Watch your place, peasant," Alter spoke emotionlessly, however, Shirou was able to notice a brief flash of annoyance and anger shown on her face.

The man guffawed at Alter's firm remark as his face furthered reddened from the lack of oxygen and the influence of alcohol in him.

"You shan't do that …" Shirou could hear some uncertain whispers and murmurs around the tavern dissuading their drunken friend to provoke the "cross-dressing" woman.

Ignoring Alter's command, the man audaciously placed his hand on Alter's armor that had bloodthirsty glowing red jagged lines stretching across it.

"Now can yer get—"

The man was immediately cut off when Alter's eyes narrowed and her blurred gauntlet fist met the man's lower stomach as the drunkard instantly flew backward until he violently crashed into the rear wooden wall of the tavern, snapping some of the wooden planks that held the building together at the stunning display of force.

 _Uh oh. This has now officially gone from bad to worse._

Shirou swallowed his thickening saliva at the literally breathtaking sight. Did Alter just punched a man for touching her?! Yes, it was clearly not appropriate for the drunkard to do what he just did, but still … was it necessary to punch him several meters back and smash him violently into a wall? That … is just overkill, and maybe even an overreaction in Shirou's personal opinion – though most people often accuse him of the exact opposite of having far too much patience towards others.

"Now yer've done it, blasted woman," the man cursed as he peeled himself off the splintering and caved in wall. Standing up straight while swaying indecisively from side to side, Shirou was surprised to see the drunk man up and walking after a direct blow from a Servant even though the power behind it was obviously restrained. But, if this man continues to taunt Alter …

The man smirked obnoxiously. "Yer comin'?"

Alter didn't bother answering or acknowledging his presence.

The man's smirk slowly strained before an angered expression painted over it. "Bah!" the man spat out a string of curses before spitting out blood right on Alter's armored foot.

 _That … was a BIG no no._

Shirou felt a part of him panick at the daring and unbelievable sight. That man is beyond insane!

Shirou could hear some petrified murmurs around the room telling the man to stop it, however, all that they said fell to the deaf ears of the hot-blooded and furious individual.

"You dare challenge a king?" Alter said with a gaze filled with killing intent as miasmic mana began to drift in the air and funnel around her hand, indicating she was about to summon her blade.

Shirou felt his heart plummet further at the action. Alter is serious! And she is going to KILL the man without hesitation. Despite not having hard evidence, Shirou just knew that was going to eventually happen if he doesn't intervene.

Before Alter could summon and reveal her sword, Shirou immediately rushed into the middle of the miniature battleground.

"Whoa … timeout!" Shirou barely contained his yelp when Alter directed a cold ruthless glare at him.

"Don't stand in my way, Shirou," Alter spoke coolly, her face not betraying any of the emotions she felt inside.

Shirou just began the conversation and now he is already running out of time. Great … just perfect.

"C-Calm down," Shirou racked his brain for an appropriate response given this situation.

"Did you reprimand me, Shirou?" Alter asked, her gaze unrelenting.

"Uh … ahh – NO! Of course not!" Shirou practically shouted. "I was just thinking … maybe you should let me deal with this," Shirou gave a strained chuckle while giving an obviously fake smile considering the dire predicament he was in.

"Are you asking me to surrender, Shirou?" Alter proceeded to ask with the same unnerving pale face as her golden eyes seemingly peered through Shirou's soul.

"YES!" Shirou exclaimed a bit too quickly now that Alter finally understood what he was trying to say before his face quickly morphed into a horrified one. "NO! I mean NO!" Shirou instantly corrected as he said the word twice for emphasis and good measures. "I just thought … um, you shouldn't sully your hands on such trivial matters."

 _Was he doing good … or was he doing an utterly horrible job?_

Shirou didn't know the answer to the question. Having no idea to placate the different Arturia before him, Shirou is beginning to find himself reaching closer and closer to his wit's end.

"That matters not, these hands are already sullied," Alter spoke without hesitation as she redirected her attention from Shirou and to the drunk man wobbling in place unsteadily.

"Ah, wait, wait, wait!" Shirou hurriedly spoke as he grabbed for Alter's attention again.

Alter shot Shirou an annoyed look but Shirou still persisted in his explanation.

"Should a king deal with lowly peasant …" Shirou hesitated at the next word, "scums?"

Alter gave him another look, whether that meant she was interested or not, Shirou took that as a cue to continue his line of thought.

"Then maybe you should let a lowly and humble man like myself deal with the problem and deliver the king's judgment accordingly," Shirou spoke as he gave a subtle bow in Alter's direction while inwardly pleading that the perhaps overextravagant speech will be able to convince Alter to step back her assault and let him deal with the problem.

"Huh?!" Lily's bewildered voice resounded the room. "But Master Shirou, you are our Master and we are your Servants! Please don't degrade yourself like that!"

"Now's not the time, Lily," Shirou said hurriedly in a pitched voice at Lily's overdramatic comment.

Alter narrowed her eyes slightly at Shirou's words as if judging it. "Liar," Alter finally pronounced coolly as she looked in the opposite direction of Shirou.

Shirou immediately began to feel the early signs of a panic attack settling in. "It's true!"

Alter glanced at him once more for a couple seconds in silence for good measures when the miasmic mana that was swirling in the air finally dissipated away. "If you so desire, I shall let you have the bounty," Alter spoke. "However," Alter continued with an additional conditional statement, "I will kill you if I discover you lied to me about your statement."

"Right …" Shirou trailed off though a part of him was relieved to hear that she will no longer be trying to intentionally kill the drunkard. That will only spell badly for all of them and Shirou will definitely feel responsible for the event whether or not it was actually his fault. It's just the way he is.

"Givin' up?" the man taunted after the conversation had finally come to a hold as he slowly bid his time.

Shirou solemnly shook his head as he turned around. "No, but I will be your opponent."

"Hah! You?" the man guffawed in a mocking manner as he eyed Shirou's "scrawny" figure in comparison to his bulging muscular ones. "I feel bad hurtin' a woman, but with yer …" the man eyed Shirou predatorily, "I'll give yer all out."

With a defiant roar, the man charged forward with his fist raised as he attempted to punch Shirou straight at his jawline.

Reacting easily by sidestepping the blow as the man staggered forward, Shirou stretched one of his legs out in front of him right when the man whirled around to continue his attack only to trip right on Shirou's foot, making him crash onto the ground in a humiliating heap.

"Are we done?" Shirou asked stoically. Shirou didn't want to hurt the man especially when it was clear the drunkard's head was clearly not understanding his predicament. If that man was so much in a daze that he couldn't even recognize Alter's oppressive and killing aura, Shirou was not sure what else could deter the man's mind save for an Excalibur blast straight to the face.

The man answered Shirou by attempting to plant his fist into Shirou's teeth. However, Shirou was quick to veer his head over to the other side as the man's fist met air before Shirou delivered a fast jab into the man's shoulder, making it instantly fall limp.

The man attempted to fire another punch only to find that his right arm will not move. Growling in anger and annoyance, the man disregarded his immobile right arm and threw a powerful punch using his left arm.

Grabbing a wooden mug to the side of him, Shirou reinforced the object slightly as the mug caught the man's fist while the bones in the man's knuckles creaked in strain when the wooden mug refused to break under the power behind the blow.

Gritting his teeth in anger, the man lashed out a series of blows only for Shirou to catch the attacks blow for blow with the open mouth of the wooden mug with pinpoint accuracy.

"Y-You dare make fun of me!" the man roared out in attempt to crash into Shirou with his entire body as he arced his fist back and swung it forward right at Shirou's face.

Surprise to see that the man was able to have a clear enough mind to deduce that simple blows won't break through his "wooden mug" defense, therefore resorting to using his entire body to build up momentum and crash into Shirou; Shirou quickly dropped his hold on the wooden mug neatly as he immediately used the back of his hand to redirect the blow for his face before catching the punch midway at the man's wrist, effectively stopping the blow before it can even reach him.

"Now are we done?" Shirou asked with a questioning expression. "I would much prefer not hurting you."

Shirou could almost feel Lily's barely unbearable shiny eyes of admiration directed on his muscle tone back. "Master Shirou, you are amazing!" Lily exclaimed with excitement.

Alter didn't offer a comment of her own as she continued watching the spectacle on the sidelines.

"Don't get cocky, boy!" the man roared as he tried swiping his legs from under Shirou, making him lose balance.

However, Shirou saw the move before it even came. Shirou's eyes narrowed dangerously as his face made an expression of a hardened warrior tempered through battle.

Easily leaping over the incoming kick, Shirou then instantly stepped one pace forward as he released a rapid series of light punches across the man's entire body before going around his back and hitting three distinct points on it.

The man promptly groaned at the speedy yet lightweight attacks before his entire body went limp as he crashed onto the wooden ale-soaked floor.

"Y-You," the man let a groan again when he tried to move his body to no avail, probably the hangover of the effects of alcohol finally beginning to catch up to him.

"You won't be able to move for a couple hours," Shirou spoke matter-of-factly as he looked over grimly at the cratered wooden wall the man has crashed into due to Alter's courtesy. He will be needing to pay for that, Shirou thought as he mentally sighed before continuing the explanation where he left off. "Even a light punch can kill a person if the same injury is inflicted multiple times at the right places," Shirou stated. "By simply neglecting and brushing them off would only make you end up with the same fate as you do now."

The man glared at Shirou with hate-filled eyes as he gritted his teeth in a mixture of humiliation and anger.

"We're done here," Shirou said as he directed a soft smile at Alter and Lily's direction, grinning as if the entire battle earlier had never happened or perturbed him.

Exiting out of the musty old odorous tavern, Shirou walked out with Lily and Alter obediently following after him as Anja simply gave a grin at the entire spectacle. Anja had expected an inevitable fight to break out in the bar due to the dual Servants' unorthodox attires, but never did she expected such unique results. She lured them here hoping to guage the Servants' strength, but instead she got a glimpse of what the peculiar Master is capable of.

" _This is going to be very interesting_ ," Anja thought as she licked her lips thoughtfully while eying at the happily talking Master and Servants trio.

* * *

The wooden and humid smell wafted through the air as Shirou warmly smiled in a relaxed manner as he strolled around in the small village settlement away from his temporary lodging in the Edelfelt "invisible" fortress.

It has been about a week since Shirou arrived in this timeline and he has learned a lot about the world today without giving way to suspicion about his true origins … not that he told much about himself to Lily, Alter, or Anja to begin with.

"Ah, Shiro!" a man yelled out as Shirou turned his head to see a man in the planting field gesturing for him to come as the man walked closer to meet Shirou midway.

"Hi …" Shirou waved his hand in greeting before he trailed off.

"Halvar," the man filled in the missing blank when he reminded Shirou once more of his unique name.

"Right, Halvar," Shirou repeated as he committed the name to memory once again. "Do you need something?" Shirou asked with a kind smile. Two days ago he was able to help the somewhat distressed Halvar with his crops when both of his strong teenage sons were struck with a nasty fever, making them bedridden for the entire day. It wasn't until today when both of his sons were able to work part-time in the field to ease their father's burden despite Shirou's insistence on Halvar letting him work another day so his sons can rest some more. But, it seems like Shirou had sorely underestimated the tenacity and recovering speed of the village people.

"Ah, my wife wanted to give this to your young maidens you have back in the forest," Halvar said as he handed over to Shirou a fabric covered box. "My wife said those ladies need to be learned in the ladies' way," Halvar chortled before he came to a stop as he wiped off some tears that were gathering on the rim of his eyes. "Ain't my wife amazing," Halvar shook his head in praise as if amused by his wife's antics.

"Well, thank you," Shirou politely bowed as he gratefully received the gift. "And tell the same to your wife also, I'm sure they will appreciate this."

"They better!" Halvar shouted gleefully. "My wife will kidnap them and train them herself if she doesn't see any results!"

"Sounds … tough."

"You bet!" Halvar gave a loud laugh before turning around while scratching his back. "Anyway, got to get to work! See you around sometime!"

Shirou nodded. "Are you sure you guys don't need any help?" Shirou asked with a hint of concern.

"We're good around here, lad. Now get busy giving the package to your waiting maidens!" Halvar shooed Shirou away as Shirou couldn't help but smile at the elderly man's antics. Shirou was glad he was able to at least meet one decent person in the village in the short week he's been here.

But … his maidens? Those words irked Shirou to no end. What was that phrase supposed to mean anyway to the people here?! Shirou sighed, it seems like the news of his, Lily's, and Alter's unique relationship of "Master" and "Servant" has spread through the village must faster than he had anticipated. And Shirou was going to blame this troubling predicament on Lily who always called him as "Master Shirou" even openly in public much to his chagrin.

Treading along the narrow dirt trail which he has walked across multiple times already, Shirou finally came in front of a small clearing in the middle of the forest, indicating that this was the mansion's true location. Reaching out his hand to touch the Bounded Field's membrane, Shirou confirmed where the door was before going in through the Bounded Field with the entirety of his body.

"I'm home!" Shirou called out in the seemingly abandoned stone building.

Hearing steps coming down from the stairs, Shirou veered his head over to the spiraling staircase to see Lily hurrying down from it with an unchanging exuberant grin of accomplishment.

"Master Shirou! Master Shirou!" Lily shouted in an exclamation of glee when she saw her Master coming in through the doorway.

"Hi Lily," Shirou greeted with a warm smile before giving her a confusing gaze. "Is something wrong?"

Lily shook her head as her eyes glimmered with uncontainable joy when her gaze met Shirou's. "I did it, Master Shirou!" Lily said once more as she skipped from the stairway to Shirou before stopping right in front of him.

"Did what?" Shirou tentatively asked. There was no neutral ground with the upcoming answer. With Lily, it was bound to be extremely great or extremely horrible, Shirou just desperately hoped it was the former instead of latter.

"Tada!" Lily exclaimed as Shirou witnessed the big reveal at what was behind her back and in her hands.

"A … flatbread?" Shirou reconfirmed at the sight before him that Lily was most likely attempting to create.

Lily vigorously nodded in confirmation once Shirou identified the food. "Yes, the mothers in the village have been teaching me proper lady etiquettes."

"Hmmm," Shirou hummed as a thought popped into his head. "Speaking of mothers," Shirou mentioned as he lifted up the package wrapped in plain brown fabric in Lily's direction, "Halvar's wife wanted to give you this."

Lily gracefully grabbed the package with evident excitement. "I better thank her when we have a chance to meet," Lily noted to herself while Shirou nodded with a smile.

"Master Shirou," Lily whispered under her breath, forcing Shirou to almost lean in to hear her small timid voice. "Would you … like to try the flatbread?" Lily asked as she gestured over at the cooked food in her hand.

That … was it? Was there any need to become embarrassed over that?

"Sure," Shirou spoke offhandedly. "I will love to!" Shirou gave a soft smile as Lily's grin widened at Shirou's acceptance.

"And this!" Lily exclaimed as she took out a turnip from her baggy pockets of a homemade woman's dress a mother crafted in the village just for her.

"A … turnip?" Shirou voiced his thoughts aloud in uncertainty at the vegetation before him. Why … a turnip?

Lily vigorously nodded in a serious and straight expression.

"And … why a turnip?" Shirou tentatively asked as he saw a weird blend of colors on the turnip's skin, something which definitely didn't belong on a healthy growing turnip. "Did you … make it?" Shirou asked, wondering was part of the vegetable modified or further "enhanced".

Lily shook her head in response. "No, Master Shirou. Alter made it!" Lily revealed with a wide smile full of anticipation.

Spotting something in his peripheral vision, Shirou robotically turned his head to the right to see a cold stare being directed straight at him from behind a stone pillar.

Shirou's mouth gaped at the unbelievable sight. What is Alter doing there spying on him?! And is she trying to hide herself? If so, she's doing a horrible job right now as the entire fourth of her body went over the coverage the stone pillar provided.

"Is that … supposed to go with the flatbread?" Shirou asked hesitantly as he pointed at the unnatural looking whole turnip.

Lily placed her fingertip on her chin in thought, making an adorable pose that even Shirou was struggling to suppress his incoming blush.

"That is an excellent idea, Master Shirou!" Lily praised.

"I was just asking—"

"This will give you the best combination of two unique flavors by your humble and faithful Servants, Master Shirou!"

"It's just Shirou," Shirou sighed, hoping for the umpteenth time that she will drop the honorary title in front of his name.

Seeing Lily's expectant eyes, Shirou cautiously motioned the food closer to his mouth as Lily intently stared at the entire scene. Gradually holding the flatbread and turnip closer and closer to his mouth while Lily stared more intently at the act, Shirou's muscles clenched when the food met his lips as it swirled in his mouth while his tongue danced around the dish.

Trying to maintain his straight face that betrayed none of his inner turmoil, Shirou forced himself to chew the horrid food resting in his mouth. This dish goes beyond the mere realm of "bad". The existence of this very taste is blasphemous to the art of food and cooking. What did they put in this turnip and flatbread combo?!

Refusing to spit out the food in his mouth by sheer will alone, Shirou forced himself to swallow the food as he gave a strained smile in Lily's direction.

"How was it, Master Shirou?" Lily asked, her voice laced with excited anticipation.

 _Congratulations! You've managed to create the worst tasting food I have ever tasted and will ever taste in my entire life. The very existence of mixing whatever horrifying ingredients you had collected managed to bring out the worse of mankind's malicious intent by tainting the art of food. This is the very act of sacrilege! For a moment, you've even had me wondering was I tasting the manifestation of "All the World's Evil"!_

"It's … unique," Shirou decided on his word choice with the same strained smile and an awkward chuckle after having all those thoughts running through his head.

"Oh really!" Lily yelped with enthusiasm. "Then I'll make more! Please eat up, Master Shirou. There will always be more for you!"

"No need for that," Shirou immediately rejected the "thoughtful" offer. "Just this will be plenty enough."

"Really?" Lily asked innocently as she eyed the small portion in Shirou's hand. "If that's so, Master Shirou, please enjoy what is remained. I will always be happy to make more whenever you feel like it!" Lily said with a determined expression as she rolled up her sleeve and fist-pumped in the air to show her unwavering resolve at the task.

"I'm good," Shirou replied Lily's statement. "But I'm sure Anja would like to try some also," Shirou said as he added a "I think …" to the end of the sentence in his mind.

"Huh? Oh, no, Master Shirou. I have already offered Lady Anja my masterpiece and she said you would love to have some of this," Lily then placed a fingertip on her chin with a thoughtful look while she pouted in contemplation. "Though, it seems like Lady Anja was not feeling well at the time when she spoke. She was gagging A LOT!" Lily opened up her arms wide to describe the magnitude and severity of Anja's "symptoms".

 _That traitor!_ Shirou's mind yelled out. How could a noble and proud honorary family of the Edelfelts be so underhanded as to make him taste this?! Shirou is going to have a long lecture with that deceiving woman. She should have known better!

"Master Shirou?" Lily interrupted Shirou's train of thought with a creasing worried look on her face. "Are you okay?" Lily asked as she looked at Shirou's intense expression.

"Oh, I'm fine," Shirou immediately replied after he snapped out of his thoughts. "I was just thinking how Anja and I haven't been spending enough … quality time with each other," Shirou said carefully, his voice laced with the intention of a strict instructor.

Lily cheeks instantly went beet red in an embarrassed blush. "Ah—!" Lily exclaimed.

"It's not what you're thinking," Shirou interrupted as he quickly halted Lily's line of misunderstood thoughts. Having been interacting with this version of Arturia for a week, Shirou has come to learn that this legendary king of Britain is far too innocent! Shirou oftentimes even wondered how was she able to lead a country without knowing the evil intentions of men? Shirou shrugged at the mind-boggling thought, most likely her brother Kay and the famed wizard, Merlin, were able to help her during her kingly journey of self-discovery.

Lily obediently nodded at Shirou's words though her blush didn't fade in the slightest bit.

"Anyway," Shirou began as he raised his voice up to normal volumes, "I came back early today hoping to tell you and Alter something," Shirou said as he periodically glanced to the side of his vision at the not-so-well-hidden Alter. "Do you mind if you get Alter for me, Lily?" Shirou asked, his voice bordering an exasperated sigh.

"Huh? But she's just right—" Shirou immediately covered Lily's mouth before Lily could blurt out anything that might set off the emotionally unstable sword-wielding girl, Alter, specifically.

"Shhh," Shirou whispered right beside Lily's ear. "Just go along with it. You know Alter won't take it too well if she discovers we knew she was there all along."

Hearing no answer from the girl, Shirou backed up his head to make eye contact. "Lily?"

Shirou's eyes bulged out and his mouth gaped when he saw Lily's face was completely red and her eyes were dazed as if having experienced shock or trauma. If Shirou had to describe in terms of the manga his half-sister, Illya, likes to read sometimes, then it would be best said that Lily's soul had left her body as she continued to lay limp in Shirou's arms.

"Lily! Hold yourself together!" Shirou shouted as he shook her shoulders to snap her out of her daze.

"T—clos—" Lily mumbled in between panting breaths as Shirou looked at the hopeless figure. This was going to be a very long day for Emiya Shirou.

* * *

It wasn't until a full thirty minutes was Shirou able to finally gather his two Servants, Lily and Alter, who are both counterparts of Arturia, into the room he first awakened to for a brief meeting and discussion. Despite the time-consuming endeavor, Shirou was at least glad he will be able to accomplish the job he came for today.

"What do you need, Master Shirou?" Lily asked.

Shirou shook his head at the question. "It's not so much that I need something but that I need your opinion on the matter."

"Huh?" Lily gave Shirou a questioning gaze. "But aren't you the Master?"

Shirou nodded. "Yes, I may be a Master; but to me, that's only by name. You both are still human beings and should be treated as such. So I want your personal input on what I'm about to say."

Lily gave what resembled as a smug grin, a rare occurrence for her from all the time Shirou has been interacting with the girl. "Hmmm, I have a strange Master indeed. You will always be my number one, Master Shirou!"

Shirou gave a strained smile. "Yeah … just don't go announcing that everywhere," Shirou gently reminded. "Anyway, should we get started?" Shirou asked.

Lily nodded while Alter remained seated in the same position without twitching a single muscle as she continued to fix her eyes onto Shirou intensely.

"Is … something wrong, Alter?" Shirou tentatively asked.

Alter continued to speak nothing as her prolonged stares didn't waver a bit.

"Ah," Shirou realized the source of the issue. "The turnip …" Shirou addressed the unworldly food that should eternally stay in the pits of hell and never come out to see the light of day, "was … thoughtful … and unique," Shirou added at the ended as his smile strained even further.

Alter nodded with a satisfied look on her face that was the closest resemblance of a smile Shirou has ever seen. Although his and Lily's relationship has been progressing well despite the numerous misunderstandings that occur often between them, his and Alter's relationship was different in the sense that Alter is only commonly misunderstood when she speaks of nothing, however, when she does speak, Alter is always demanding and forthright with her wants.

But, with the progress he's making in getting to know these two individuals who are a counterpart of Arturia better, Shirou believed they will begin to forge a closer and closer bond like he had with his family back in Fuyuki City.

"So what is it, Master Shirou?" Lily inquired again about the main discussion of the meeting.

Shirou's eyes narrowed as he clasped and folded his hands in front of him. "Next month," Shirou began as he eyes shifted from the ground to the two girls, "we will be going to Camelot, Britannia to see the Arturia of this world … your counterpart."

…

…

…

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~?!" a painful shout resounded the airtight walls of the Edelfelt Mansion as chaos ensues in the humble hidden residence residing in the tranquil forest of Lund.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **This is the rewrite on** _ **Blades of Fate**_ **chapter 1 starting before Shirou summons Lily and Alter. There are some minor plot changes, so please tell me what you guys all think about this chapter by reviewing! I would love to hear any suggestions, comments, questions, etc. from you readers!**

 **Also, for people who don't know who in the world are Lily and Alter, just do a quick search on a web browser with the keywords: "Saber Lily" or "Saber Alter".**

 **For the record, this is NOT a harem fiction. At best, this story may perhaps become a fiction with different routes featuring different heroines ... kind of like a visual novel. Why, you ask? Because, 1. I don't write harem stories, and 2. Shirou does not strike me as a guy who enters into multiple intimate relationships with different girls at the same time. I believe both valid reasons are self-explanatory.**

 **Due to my earlier than expected busy college schedule, I'm afraid the two updates in a week for** _ **Blades of Fate**_ **will need to be postponed. Hope you understand!** **– SteelBlades333**

* * *

 **Next week's update – Fate/Blade Zero!**


	3. Lund

_**Chapter 2 – Lund**_

"One more here, lad!" a slurred voice shouted over the incoherent noise of the crowd in the compact tight room as a man held up his wooden mug up and high in the air with a goofy smile.

"Hey, where's my jerky!" another voice shouted in complaint as he smacked the table in clear irritation.

"C-Coming right up!" Lily stammered as she rushed over to the bar's back kitchen while her grey peasant dress fluttered behind her harmlessly at the rapid movement.

"Here's the … Groak Delight!" Shirou shouted after an initial hesitation as he scurried to place the tender beef loin that has been simply barbecued over a burning fire with a variety of different vegetables ranging from corn to turnip onto the bar's countertop for Lily to pick up.

"M-Master Shirou!" Lily stuttered out with a panicked look on her face. "What about the jerky?"

"Oh, you mean …" Shirou hesitated once more as he ruffled his hair in frustration. He cursed the owner of the bar for giving such lousy names to the food he created from scratch. However, Shirou can only take them without complaint as a factor of him having a part-time job here in the bar. "Do you mean Crapulous Jerky?" Shirou finally relented in pronouncing the blasphemous name.

Lily nodded vigorously at Shirou's words as she fidgeted in place uncomfortably.

"You know," Shirou began as he eyed at Lily's figure with a defeated sigh, "you don't need to be this nervous for your first time working here," Shirou stated a matter-of-factly.

"B-But—"

"Think of this as a kingly duty," Shirou quickly interrupted, knowing that Lily is going to sprout out excuses she can't even understand herself. "Kind of like Alter there," Shirou mentioned as he gestured over to the blackly dressed girl.

"FINISH YOUR FOOD!" Alter ruthlessly commanded as she pointed at the unfinished plate of Shirou's handiwork.

"Hey! Wa—"

"I said finish it, brats!" Alter said coolly as her eyes narrowed before she audaciously placed her foot on top of the table with supremacy.

"Aye …" came a group of whimpers as fear penetrated through their souls with crushing force while they quietly mumbled over their food depressingly.

"HURRY IT UP, PEASANTS!" Alter shouted once more as she brought out a leather flogger out of her dress and whipped it in the air a couple times as it cracked loudly several times in succession.

Shirou's eyes bulged out at the sight of the object. Since when did she have that?!

"I take that back," Shirou muttered as he prepared himself to go rushing out to the table and restrain Alter at any given moment. "Don't be like Alter. Just be yourself. In fact, I believe Alter can learn a thing or two from you."

"O-Okay, Master Shirou!" Lily said as she straightened up her body and grabbed the food, namely Crapulous Jerky, over to the waiting customers.

Quickly glancing over at Alter who is close to strangling a man who has food stuffed in his mouth like an overloaded chipmunk, Shirou turned around as he eyed at the color-coded order strips that came from different types of vegetations grown in Lund.

Pink, Shirou noted the color code as he searched through his finite memory on what it stood for. Holding back a curse that almost slipped past his mouth, Shirou headed back for the kitchen as he prepared the newly ordered dish corresponding to the designated color. Of all names that could be chosen, why did it just have to be … Hugger-mugger Trout.

* * *

Pouring bucket loads of water onto the wooden ale-soaked floor in the empty and tranquil bar during its closing hours, Shirou and the pair of Servants worked quietly and tediously together to rid of the splattered food, vomit, and most importantly, the foul odor that reeked throughout the famed bar of Lund.

With his back arched, Shirou leaned forward while using his hand to firmly scrub the uneven ground to make sure nothing unclean was left behind. Rotating his sore shoulder joints, Shirou wiped off a gathering bead of sweat off the top of his brows as he used the brief respite to inspect how Lily and Alter are doing in their jobs. Not surprisingly, given both the Servants' physiques and stamina, Lily and Alter were still continuously hard at work as if the past hour of scrubbing the unforgiving floor was a mere warmup.

Veering his eyes back to the ground, Shirou begrudgingly wished that he had asked Anja how to make some powerful soap to make all of their lives easier … antibacterial soap if at all possible. However, despite the back pain-inducing job, Shirou was more than content to continue his responsibility. For him, cleaning was more of a soothing pastime than that of a grueling task.

Shirou's train of thought was suddenly interrupted when his ears picked up a gentle surprised yelp from his left. Snapping his head over to the source of noise, Shirou's facial muscles slackened to a frown when he noticed Lily desperately trying to maintain her balance in the pool of water that had accumulated on her designated floor section that she was supposed to clean.

"Ahhh!" Lily yelped once more when her left foot slipped and caught her undefended right foot, causing her to trip over herself for less than a split-second. However, Lily managed to miraculously retain her balance when she spun on the sole of her right foot and regained back her center of gravity. Unfortunately for Lily though, momentum was still against her when her body continued to travel and spiral out of control slowly but surely through the length of the soaked floor.

"M-Master Shirou!" Lily cried out as she flailed her arms in front of her to no avail. "Save me!"

Alter spared a minute glance of annoyance at her counterpart's side before resuming back to her steady work as if having not noticed Lily's dire predicament.

Shirou sighed inwardly. When it comes to Lily, trouble seemed to follow her everywhere … albeit most of the time it's because of her direct influence.

Less than a second later Lily's plea was announced, the innocent white Saber's balance fumbled when she bumped into the stationary water bucket by the side, inevitably causing her to flounder for a split second before she landed with her back onto the wet floor in a messy heap.

Shirou stood up from where he was working and walked over to where Lily is still lying.

"Need a hand?" Shirou asked, unable to hide the surfacing grin of amusement he had on his face.

Lily cutely pouted at her Master's late arrival as she refused to meet him in his eyes.

Shirou chuckled at her antics, this time being the first opportunity he had to see Lily acting this way. For a moment, he was reminded of the "tsundere" Rin he had back in Fuyuki City. But, for both his and Lily's sake, Shirou prayed that he would never see the light of day where Lily becomes dishonest with her feelings … like a certain verbally abusive Tohsaka.

Looking back at Shirou's outstretched hand, Lily face then slowly crack into an exuberant smile, graciously accepting her dear Master's generous offer.

"Next time," Shirou began as he hauled Lily up to her feet, "don't use that much water," Shirou suggested as he surveyed the thoroughly soaked and soggy wooden planks. The last thing Shirou needed was to once again get berated by the owner of the shop because of either Lily's or Alter's hazardous "accidents".

Once was already plenty enough, and that was when Alter had managed to put a massive dented crack on the feeble wooden walls of the building when she delivered her divine punishment onto the unfortunate drunk man a week ago. And it was because of all these series of events did it led Shirou to ultimately repay Alter's debt by working for the owner of the bar as compensation due to having no substantial income upon appearing in this timeline. Furthermore, the Edelfelt heir, Anja, didn't seem to want to give a lending hand in Shirou's direction … not that Shirou would have accepted it anyway if it was offered.

Back to the task at hand, Shirou returned kneeling on the floor and began continuously scrub over a persistent stain on the floor before getting it completely wiped off. However, with keen eyes that rivals a hawk, Shirou glanced past a tiny piece of salmon stuck tightly between a dent in the wooden planks. Shirou frowned at the revolting sight. He needed to ensure with perfection that the floor was the most hygienic and cleanest place in the village. Then, Shirou is going to knock some sense into the frequent costumers of the bar concerning their bad hygienic habits.

Veering his head back and forth to make sure there were no unwanted prying eyes, Shirou glanced back to the piece of waste below him.

"Trace On," Shirou quietly whispered as a simple mystic code in the form of a needle tipped dagger manifested within his hands.

While Shirou was not tracing a mana-consuming Noble Phantasm for a cleaning task, Shirou nevertheless couldn't help but grin in mild amusement at the thought of Archer from ten years back giving him an obnoxious stare of disapproval for using magecraft in this manner. Sticking the blade tip into the crevice and running a weak fire inducing mystic code through the weapon, Shirou had effectively purified the wooden tavern floor.

Gazing periodically at what was left undone, Shirou was suddenly interrupted from his lapse of concentration when the creaking of the thick wooden door to the bar sounded itself. Peering through the side of his eyes, Shirou noticed a man with an oversized muscular build entered through the doorway audaciously with two other similar figures beside him.

Wiping the front of his hands onto his moist pants, Shirou slowly stood up as he approached the incoming customers. "Sorry, shop hours are closed. You can come back during nightfall."

Not deterred by Shirou's announcement, the trio of men stepped further forward toward Shirou.

"May I help you?" Shirou asked with a raised eyebrow at the men's strange antics. If these people wanted to find trouble with him, Shirou would rather them do it some other time when Alter is not present lest he ends up paying the damage fees Alter will be sure to incur onto the foundationally weak building.

"You're the kid, right?" a man in front, presumably the leader, sneered.

Shirou gave them a questioning gaze at the odd statement.

Another man with leather armaments on his forearms nodded in agreement. "He's the one, alright. Beat Gunne to a 'swigly' pulp."

Shirou's eyes narrowed at the said name. If he had to guess, Gunne had to be the drunkard Shirou defeated in the bar just a little over a week ago.

"Swell! That's the man. Give me the cup, lad!" the Scandinavian leader commanded with great vigor.

"Shop hours are closed," Shirou gave an unamused glare. However, more than the men's untimely entrance as well as suspicious speech, Shirou simply couldn't understand what these people wanted.

"Don't be a poor sport," the leader smirked sarcastically. "Hand me the _Unbreakable Mug_!"

Shirou's momentary frown instantly turned into one that of confusion. The "Unbreakable Mug"? What was that all about?

A man to the leader's left nodded subtly in approval. "Aye, the renown mug that granted you victory against the 'Lone Army', Gunne!"

Shirou was slowly beginning to piece the intangible puzzle together.

A light sigh escaped Shirou's lips as he shook his head back and forth in defeat.

"You mean that?" Shirou asked as he pointed at a seemingly ordinary wooden mug in pristine condition being raised on top of a miniature pedestal as if showcasing a grand trophy.

"That's it, lad!" the man in front exclaimed with confidence. "Today, the village of Lund shall witness the true warrior amongst all men! Now, bring forth the cup, boy."

Shirou gave an inquisitive gaze at the group of eager men, ready to prove their insurmountable strength.

Shirou was no fool to not have noticed what the bar owner – and subsequently, his boss – had decided to do behind his back. Initially, it came as a surprise to Shirou when he unwittingly discovered that the village people began hailing how Lund Ole Tavern had the sturdiest cups for the manliest warriors on earth. Later, this rumor quickly morphed into an unspoken message to see which man could break the proclaimed invincible beverage container at the local bar and be declared as the village hero.

To make matters worse, the bar owner was beginning to make a profit from the local people to give them the chance to challenge the impossible. While perhaps deceitful, Shirou didn't mind it as it contributed to his due payment regarding Alter's incident. Furthermore, the people in the village could learn a thing or two regarding their foolish wishes. However, to hear the new title, "Unbreakable Mug", rang new to Shirou's ears. But, the name was fitting enough for him to eventually figure out what the men have come for.

"Very well," Shirou drawled, clearly not in the mood to see men fighting over each other to have the "legendary" opportunity.

Lifting the wooden mug off the pedestal that strangely resembled a Japanese altar, Shirou brought the ale mug that was no larger than the Viking's fist before him.

The first man closest to the cup rubbed his hands in excitement, his eyes hiding none of the "bloodlust" he felt for the cup, clearly determined to witness the mug's ultimate destruction.

"One hit," Shirou informed, his even voice signifying that there was no room for negotiation, "for a silver coin."

The man didn't bother to meet Shirou in the eyes. "How about half a silve' bar for three of us all?"

Shirou considered it for a second as he did the mental math. Finding the simple exchange of amount sufficient for his daily needs, Shirou nodded in agreement as the man handed him half a bar of silver – a form of unofficial currency in medieval Scandinavia, especially with somewhere as undeveloped as Lund.

Taking the payment without reserve, Shirou brought the cup outside and placed it onto dirt ground.

Without needing any instructions, the first man coming forward cracked his knuckles as he prepared to punch a hole through the wooden mug.

Shirou began to frown at the sight. To the man's credit, he was incredibly strong and could easily break a hole through a wooden cup barehanded at any given moment. However, this mug was no ordinary mug. This mug was the very cup Shirou used to fend off the drunkard's attack over a week ago, and thus was reinforced through the use of Reinforcement Magecraft from his own mana.

Therefore, trying to punch a hole through a magically enhanced mug like the one before the trio of men would be nigh equivalent to hitting against a thick slab of steel. In other words, to punch at the seemingly brittle cup would ultimately be bone-crushing. And all this was due to the courtesy of Gaia's lesser influence on magecraft or mysteries in general during this timeline.

"A gauntlet might help," Shirou vaguely advised, allowing the mighty men to make their own decision.

Too engaged in his warmup, the burly man ignored Shirou's word of caution as he lifted his fist high up in the air. With muscles bulging, knuckles whitening, and teeth gritting, the man let out a roar as he slammed his fist of retribution upon the defenseless mug. Contact was instantly made between the acting force and the inanimate object as the cup creaked at the force while it sank barely into the hard soil at the man's top to bottom blow.

However, Shirou swore he heard something snapped when the Viking warrior disengaged from the impenetrable "shield" as he kneeled in pain while gritting his teeth in mild agony.

Once more, Shirou turned to look at the other two companions who were alongside the fallen man. "A gauntlet might help," Shirou repeated once more without batting an eye, having seen this occurrence repeat itself far too many times already.

The pair of men glared at Shirou with untamed anger.

Shirou helplessly shrugged at their reaction. He already warned the man!

"Next," Shirou gestured at the "unbeatable" cup.

The remaining two contestants glanced at the cup as their eyes rekindled with determination. In more ways than one, this reinforced mug almost reminded Shirou of the Holy Grail. While not a wish-granting chalice, the mug nevertheless opened the door to both glory and fame amongst the village people to whichever warrior managed to cripple the formidable object. And, Shirou believed he had more than enough reasons to justify his "taboo" correlation … especially considering how he gotten himself dragged into becoming a Master again with not one, but two Servants!

Not surprisingly, the second man to the challenge utterly failed, suffering worse than the former contestant due to his posture being unbalanced upon smashing his fist into the cup straight down. However, the last man standing had an interesting approach when he decided to slam into the cup from the side instead of from the top.

With piercing eyes blazed with concentration, the man used his right foot to kick into the mug with all his strength. However, instead of the "expected" result of meeting an immobile fortress, the cup sailed through the air like a soccer ball before landing with a couple of ungraceful bounces along the dirt ground.

Shirou couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. The man had apparently misunderstood in thinking the cup's sturdiness as a sign of its weight and density. However, reinforcement did not work that way. Surpassing the mere ability to strengthen the durability of an object, it could also enhance other aspects of the object like sharpness for a blade or repairment in case of damage. But, by no means does this allude that the object would be inherently heavier because of its sturdiness, which is a common misunderstanding for people who simply don't understand magecraft well enough.

"That's not going to work," Shirou informed as he went over and grabbed the tilted cup from the ground near the village well. "The weight still remains constant. Its durability on the other hand …" Shirou trailed off, allowing the failed challengers to fill in the blank themselves based upon their respective experiences.

"Tch," one man snickered in disappointment at the ridiculous notion on how a mere cup could beat his prowess before leaving the scene.

"Also," Shirou continued, "your postures were all wrong. All of you relied on brute strength from your arms, move your hips along with your blow if you want to make it more impacting," Shirou advised. Despite the men's untamed looks, these individuals were clearly in their early twenties due to their apparent inexperience in basic battle forms.

"A formidable foe," the leader of the group grumbled under his breath as he nursed his aching hand while both he and his other partner alongside him left with a thoroughly defeated expression … but one that carried without any regrets.

Shirou sighed softly at the bizarre case of people finding the urge to challenge such a stupid item for the sake of fame and superiority. If anything, Shirou hoped that even a small mug like this could prove to be a reminder to the Scandinavians to not be overbearing and arrogant of their achievements. Knowing from personal experience, Shirou knew it would ultimately end badly for the people of Lund.

Treading back to the Lund Ole Tavern, Shirou lazily took the cup in hand as an amusing thought crossed his mind. Who knew, if this ridiculous act of sports continued, this cup just may get enough fame to become a Noble Phantasm … if it maintained that for a couple centuries and gathered enough popularity to form an ideal within the people's mind. Shirou couldn't help but grin at the thought, that would sure make an interesting sight to behold.

Entering the unmaintained tavern, Shirou was immediately greeted with a sight of both Lily and Alter relaxing beside a bar table with their respective expressions of satisfaction.

"Done already?" Shirou raised his eyebrow at the unlikely thought. There were few who could beat him in cleaning in terms of overall speed and perfection.

Lily nodded her head as she hummed a tune in pride of her own achievement before resuming back to sipping her suspicious-looking beverage. Alter on the other – as usual – spared a glance at Shirou, indicating mildly in confirmation that she too had finished the assigned work throughout the day.

Shirou was about to check the validity of the statement when out from the kitchen behind the "reception" desk walked in the bar owner – Shirou's temporary boss – himself.

"Ah, Shiro, Lily, and …" the man briefly paused before he stammered to continue, "a-and Alter. You folks are all here!"

"What do you expect, Ivar?" Shirou inquisitively asked, lightly shaking his head at the man's tenacity for asking redundant and meaningless questions.

"Yes, of course," the man nodded vigorously as if talking more to himself. "You all done with the job I see."

"Yes, sir Ivar," Lily humbly answered as she gave a courteous bow, showing in her own manner to Shirou that she was not in the slightest bit perturbed by her social status in the developing colony of Scandinavia.

"Great," the chubby man boomed with glee. "Shiro, I have a greatest of ideas!"

Shirou held back the countless sighs he let out during his stay in the otherworldly village.

"A pick-up phrase!" Ivar announced his grand proposal. "For the tavern, you see."

"Last I checked, your 'pick-up' lines include naming my dishes as Groak Delight, Crapulous Jerky, and Hugger-mugger Trout," Shirou deadpanned.

"Ah, nothing of the sort," Ivar defended himself as he prepared to further detail his brilliant plan.

"Like?" Shirou gave his boss a doubtful gaze, but willing to hear the man out despite his mind desperately wanting to return back "home" in the Edelfelt fortress.

"How about …" Ivar trailed off as he mulled over his thoughts, "something enticing yet messy … while eloquent but manly," Ivar brainstormed a couple options he had in mind.

Shirou stared at Ivar with fixed dead eyes. "Those are contradictory statements," Shirou resisted a groan coming out his throat. "You can't make my food sound enticing and messy at the same time. It's either one or the other. And it's surely not the latter."

"But—"

"If people make my food messy," Shirou continued, recalling an unfortunate incident where a man was too drunk and wind up emptying out his stomach filled with both ale and Shirou's partially digested food in the bar, "then that's their problem and thus should not be included in your 'pick-up' phrase."

"Bars are messy," Ivar refuted with a dissatisfied frown. "And bars are for men. So, messy men are real men."

"You're kidding," Shirou muttered under his own breath, finding it suddenly difficult to meet Ivar in the eyes. It was painful, to say the least.

"What about 'eloquent but manly'?" Lily asked, completely unaware of Shirou's inner turmoil.

"That won't work," Shirou immediately stated. "If you want to be eloquent to attract the ladies of Lund to come to the tavern yet want the exact opposite by making the bar only for men is a contradictory statement in itself."

"Nay," Ivar disagreed once more with a booming voice. "Eloquent to make the ladies admire the strong Viking men we are in Lund to be able to satisfy our thirst of battle through manly ale!"

Shirou proceeded to raise an eyebrow when he noticed how serious Ivar actually was when the man raised his fist and pounded his chest as if pledging allegiance to his fellow brothers and warriors in battle.

"Well, you're not going to come up with anything," Shirou informed without a lace of compassion, especially having been the receiving end of the punishing nicknames Shirou obtained with his handmade dishes.

Shirou then glanced at his two Servants, Lily and Alter, mildly begging to contribute against this hopeless cause of Ivar.

"P-Perhaps Master Shirou is right," Lily lightly stammered in the beginning.

"Huh? Master?" Ivar mumbled under his breath while in thought.

 _Drop the "Master" already_ , Shirou pleaded within his mind. Despite not being totally aware of it himself, Shirou has noticed that throughout the ten years he's strived to become a Hero of Justice since the Grail War, Shirou has started to become more and more cynical. Shirou was beginning to wonder whether Archer's unruly behavior was already rubbing of off him. Considering Archer was his future self, Shirou thought the idea becoming more likely than not.

"A revelation! By Odin himself!" Ivar suddenly proclaimed with a booming voice, making everybody in the room mildly wince at the noise aside for Alter who twitched her eyebrow at the unexpected shout.

"What?" Shirou questioned, barely avoiding the scowl that was reaching up to his face. Shirou had dealt with more annoying and obnoxious people than Ivar, but for some special reason, Ivar seemed to annoy Shirou the most among all of them aside for a certain red and black Archer from the future.

"Hear me," Ivar boasted proudly as he hushed everybody. "Welcome to Lund Ole Tavern, home to the _Unbreakable Mug_. Be the best, manliest, and powerful Viking before thine women!"

"Uh … no. Just … no," Shirou deadpanned. Even Lily for once was left without anything to say.

"It was given by Odin himself!"

"And Odin did a bad job," Shirou completed the thought.

Ivar looked for a moment flabbergasted at Shirou's "blasphemous" statement but quickly recovered.

"Another revelation!" Ivar boomed out with excitement.

Shirou's hand met his face with an audible slap.

 _Great. Here it goes again._

"Welcome to Lund Ole Tavern! Home to the best warriors' beers, house to the _Unbreakable Mug_ , and the safe haven for all ladies!"

"No," Shirou said with dead eyes.

Ivar gave Shirou an unhappy look. "Do you have anything better, lad?"

"Yes," Shirou answered. "Just forget the pick-up lines. They're just going to hurt. Plus, you are the ONLY tavern in Lund. What's the point if everybody is going to come here regardless?"

"You don't get nothing," Ivar lightly spat out. "There's another bar two days away from here. You lose people 'round here."

 _Two days … Who in the right mind would travel that far to get drunk?_

"I trust your addition of different food in the bar suffices in bringing the customers in," Shirou pointed out. Shirou highly doubted people in this day and age could best his future knowledge of countless cuisines.

"It's settled," Ivar grunted roughly. "For every man that enters this establishment, we shall utter Odin's divine message sent unto me."

"No, I'm not doing that," Shirou stood his ground. There was no way he is saying something as stupid as that. Calling his food Groak Delight was already one matter that Shirou allowed to slide, but this? Shirou would adamantly be unshaken in his stance.

"Is it bad, Master Shirou?" Lily innocently asked, wondering what is distressing Shirou this much.

"Yes, Lily," Shirou sighed loudly which earned him a soft glare from Lily. "Yes, it's just that bad."

"Regardless of your wants, you WILL utter the divine words of Odin!" Ivan declared with determination, leaving no room for arguments.

"No …" Shirou said for the final time in the disguise of a groan.

* * *

"Welcome to Lund Ole Tavern! Home to the best warriors' beers, house to the _Unbreakable Mug_ , and the safe haven for all ladies!" Shirou advertised aloud when a group of mighty men entered the humble tavern of Lund.

"The best cook in Lund, Master Shirou, is here to serve you!" Lily cheered on much to Shirou's dismay.

"Break the _mug_ and get ten silver coins. Fail, then die in shame," Alter announced monotonously as she glared at the customers with cold and unnerving eyes, making everybody in the room halt their footsteps in fear before seating themselves in the room to not further agitate the emotionally unstable "tyrant" in peasant's clothing.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Shirou grumbled half-heartedly under his breath. That sly old man, Ivar, managed to make himself entangle with another one of his stupid ideas.

The door swung open once more before Lily could give a proper reply to Shirou.

"Welcome to Lund Ole Tavern! Home to the best warriors' beers, house to the _Unbreakable Mug_ , and the safe haven for all lad—?!" Shirou drawled as he continued working before his eyes widened in realization when he noticed the person that entered is none other than the Edelfelt heir, Anja, in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" Shirou asked abruptly, trying to quickly cover up his shameful deed upon meeting the familiar face.

"Seeing how our home Master is fairing in the local bar," Anja retorted with a smug grin.

"Perhaps you would like some Groak Delight?" Shirou countered nonchalantly at Anja's clear teasing while wiping up a pool of vomit on the ground beside an unconscious drunken man.

Anja amused smile slowly turned into a frown upon the unpleasant sight. "I'm quite alright."

"It's either that or Lily and Alter's onion with dry bread combo," Shirou pointed out.

Anja's frown deepened at the thought. "Combo? Never mind, I believe I can prepare something for myself."

Shirou shrugged though the thought of Anja cooking something brought interest to his ears. Perhaps he could learn a thing or two from the magus of the Scandinavian cuisine during this time. "What really brings you here?" Shirou finally asked the inevitable question.

"Serve me some mead first," Anja gestured.

Shirou inwardly frowned. This was a first.

"Lily," Shirou called out to Lily who was now busily working in the "staff only" kitchen. "Grab Anja some mead!"

"Yes, Master Shirou," came the muffled voice in the kitchen as the clattering sounds of pots and pans tumbling down to the floor sounded in the small bar.

"Find yourself a seat first, I have some Hugger-mugger Trouts to deliver," Shirou suggested to the still standing Anja.

Anja lightly smiled at Shirou's words. "Very well, don't keep a lady waiting too long."

Shirou shook his head with a chuckle at the Edelfelt's words. A lady? Hardly. If anything, Anja reminded him a mixture of both Tohsaka and Luvia together … an interesting combination to say the least.

After finishing his list of orders, Shirou arrived back to the waiting Anja who had a half-filled cup of mead on her table. While approaching her, Shirou dimly heard some people eying Anja dangerously, occasionally calling her a witch. Shirou stored the information to the back of his mind, he would ask her what the commotion was about on a later date.

"Done?" Anja asked with a content smile as she sipped her drink once more.

Shirou nodded as he wiped his hands on his trousers. "I have some spare time now, though I wouldn't be surprised if Lily cries for help later because something she and Alter did," Shirou noted as he thought back to a couple unfortunate incidents in the feeble tavern. "Anyway, what's the matter?" Shirou asked, fully aware that Anja came because something had come up.

Gently placing down the used wooden mug onto the table, Anja gazed at Shirou seriously. A picture Shirou was too used to seeing amongst his magi peers. "Sightings," Anja stated simply. "Goblin sightings in a village two days away from here." Anja further clarified.

"Phantasmal species," Shirou mumbled with his voice lowered. This was a serious matter. Just like how magecraft can be more easily cast and maintained back in history due to Gaia's lesser influence upon the world, likewise, Gaia is more unable to reject the existence of otherworldly creatures crafted from men's imagination – goblins to name one.

Normally, the Mage's Association and occasionally the Church were responsible to deal with these rare sightings in the modern world. However, in the day and age where King Arthur reigned, Shirou could safely deduce that the Mage's Association at best has only begun its movement. Therefore, the probability of the Mage's Association coming up to Scandinavia to eliminate a few goblins is null. Thus, this leaves …

"So you're asking I, Lily, and Alter to help deal with the issue," Shirou stated, cutting straight through the point.

Anja nodded without hesitation. "While these lands are protected by myself, the Edelfelt line of mages, I have reasons to believe that this sighting may be trickier than most."

Shirou raised an eyebrow at Anja being quick to enlist his help. Normally, typical mages tend to take pride in their magecraft and thus do not like other mages meddling their affairs or doing their work for them, especially in the land the magus governs and protects. Either this sighting is far beyond Anja's ability to control or something else is motivating her to enlist his and both Arturias' help.

"How so?"

"Ley lines," Anja began. "Multiple ley lines cross through the village of Gata. While these 'supernatural' sightings generally happen fairly often on a constant interval within one month, there hasn't been a sighting since half a year ago."

"So you think something big is coming up due to the lapse of inaction," Shirou concluded.

Anja nodded in agreement.

Shirou raked a hand through his hair. Things have quickly turned complicated in the short week he's been here in Lund. Regardless, if there were people that needed saving, it was Shirou's calling to go there and perform his duty as a Hero of Justice to save all.

"Which direction?" Shirou asked, ready to commit the spoken map in mind.

"Northeast," Anja swiftly answered. Its direction was exactly the opposite of the seaside port Shirou needed to get to in order to sail to Britannia.

"Hmmm," Shirou hummed a thoughtful tune. "When's the next ship going to Britannia coming if we don't make it to the first one?" Shirou questioned.

"It's uncertain," Anja answered. "It depends are there any more settlers that want to come to the upper lands."

 _Great. Things were just getting better._

While one would normally assume the task of a mage is to simply eliminate these "sightings" known as phantasmal species and immediately move on to the next mission, hunting phantasmal beasts are often much more complicated and usually requires weeks and sometimes months of patience to fully eliminate the issue. And considering Shirou has gone back in time where mana is more concentrated in the world, the problem with phantasmal beasts is bound to be much worse and more prominent here, and would thus more likely than not take much more time in completely sealing the issue.

Not to mention, Shirou also had that debt to pay to Ivar because of a certain Saber Servant.

Shirou mulled over all his thoughts grimly. By the way things are looking, Shirou may end up staying in Lund for the long term until someone could assist him in getting to the British Isles, now known as Britannia, on a later date. All this which ultimately alludes to the fact that Shirou would take more time in getting back to the modern world.

Shirou let out a loud sigh at the jumbled thoughts. "I'll go," Shirou relented. "I'll bring Lily and Alter along as well."

Anja gave a rare wide and sincere smile at Shirou. "Thank you very much, Master—"

"Not you too," Shirou groaned. "Shirou is fine," Shirou said sternly.

"I will lead you there then, Shirou," Anja grinned upon her failed tease.

For once, a Scandinavian is able to get the pronunciation of Shirou's Japanese name accurately on a constant basis, something which he appreciated despite its insignificance.

"That sounds great," Shirou nodded once in agreement.

"M-Master Shirou!" Lily cried out from the kitchen. "Ah! No, not that Alter! A-ah! NOOOO!"

"It seems like I'm called," Shirou gave a wry smile at the alarm and desperate cries of the young and innocent Arturia.

Anja grinned in return. "In the meantime, tell your boss – Ivar was it? – that today's your last day. We will be leaving tomorrow."

"That urgent, huh?" Shirou said in wonder. Maybe goblins were the least of Anja's worries.

"Also, I will help repay your debt because of this."

Shirou raised his eyebrow at the unusually generous Anja. "What brought this on?"

"Consider this as my thanks for helping with Gata."

Shirou couldn't help himself but grin. That statement and antic reminded him so much of Tohsaka Rin back home. "I can't say no to that then," Shirou chuckled. "Well, thank you for the help. I'm sure Lily and Alter will appreciate the gift even more so than myself."

Anja smirked at the comment. "Now, now, you had better check on your two maidens," Anja shooed Shirou.

Shirou's eyes twitched. "Don't you get started," Shirou warned with a mild yet joking scowl at the word "maidens".

"AH! Don't use your sword! ALTER! NO!"

Shirou's face immediately went on full alert at the sound of Alter extracting her blade.

"Got to go!" Shirou instantly flew out of the bar dining area.

"AH, NOOOO! MASTER SHIROUUUUU!" Lily gave a final wail at their poor attempt in recreating the Crapulous Jerky when it self-combusted in the meager kitchen of Lund Ole Tavern.

"How peaceful," Anja murmured to herself as she drank another sip of the honey mead while smelling its sweet fragrance in the midst of churning chaos.

* * *

"Is that all you have?" Anja asked inquisitively at the lack of belongings Shirou and both the Servants had on them.

Shirou shrugged. "Didn't exactly come here prepared. However, I should ask, isn't that a bit much?" Shirou voiced his concern while pointing at the en masse luggage.

"Oh, this? This is quite normal for a lengthy expedition."

"Gems?" Shirou took a wild guess based upon his experience fighting alongside Luvia.

"Huh? How did you know?" Anja questioned with wonder.

"Call it a wild guess," Shirou answered. "That aside, are you ready to leave?"

Inwardly, Shirou would be ecstatic if he could finish the expedition before their one month – now less than three weeks – deadline in order to make it back to the ship. However, judging by Anja's sheer amount of packages, Shirou was beginning to find such likelihood more improbable.

Anja nodded. "We're going northward. Follow my lead."

Gazing over her packages, Anja then opened up a miniature bag in hand before casting a spell and opening an extra spatial dimension within it. Using levitation magecraft, Anja then swiftly summoned her belongings and threw them into the small bag without an effort.

Shirou mentally whistled at the feat. While he did realize that magecraft is more powerful further into the past, to see it exercised first hand is still nevertheless an impressive sight. Even Tohsaka Rin, a magus prodigy, would have at least huffed in exertion at the action. But Anja, it felt like she didn't even lift a single finger despite receiving no aid from external sources.

With a simple gesture, Anja leads the way to the village settlement of Gata as Shirou as well as Lily and Alter followed quietly along.

* * *

After a couple hours of nonstop walking, the sun finally began to set below the visible horizon on the flat plains of Scandinavian. While relatively chilly up in the north, Shirou found pleasure and solace at the quiet and soothing scenery. Furthermore, the weather reminded him what it's like in Japan during the cool spring season.

Settling down under an upright tree, Anja reopened the spatial dimension within her bag and swiftly took out cups of water.

"You brought that too?" Shirou gave an inquisitive gaze. Surprised by the fact that Anja even thought as far as bringing water along during the trip.

"The lands can be harsh," Anja vaguely replied.

Regardless, Shirou nevertheless appreciated the fact that they had some water to drink in the kilometers upon kilometers of flat grasslands. While Shirou is more than capable of surviving two days of arduous journey to another village without anything to eat and drink, having something to replenish his energy is always helpful.

As a certain Saber would say, "Hunger is the enemy."

"Would you like some water?" Shirou asked unconsciously to both Lily and Alter while Anja gave a questioning and confused look.

Both Servants declined the offer.

 _Right,_ Shirou thought to himself, _Servants don't rely on physical sustenance as they are technically spiritual beings._

"Master Shirou," Lily suddenly called out to Shirou in a whisper.

Turning around, Shirou met Lily in the eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Master Shirou, we are going to Gata, correct?"

Shirou nodded. "That's what Anja said at least."

Lily lightly shook her head in lament at the village's name. "A year ago," Lily began, "I've received news of Gata being overrun by – what Merlin calls – phantasmal beasts."

Shirou's ears perked at the news and immediately gestured for Lily to continue.

"There have also been sightings of goblins, ogres, and some say a dragon as well."

Shirou instantly frowned at the message. Dragons, hailed as the most powerful of all phantasmal beasts, are nigh impossible to kill. In fact, legends that sing great tales of heroic feats of men who slay dragons are merely killing the newborn phantasmal beasts that have crossed over to earth. However, if an old dragon resurfaces to the human world, it was bound to be catastrophic. Everything could go bad enough for Alaya – a force of human's will to survive and exist – to ultimately send a Counter Guardian to deal with the issue.

With all this said though, the only chance Shirou had rooting for him in this potential predicament is that dragons – especially older ones – rarely crossed over to the human side of the world.

"Thanks for telling me about it," Shirou directed at Lily. "I'll keep the information in mind."

While Shirou knew Lily came from a parallel world than that of the one he's in now – hence why there are able to be three Arturias present in this world – Shirou also understood that not every event would coincide between worlds. But nevertheless, the possibility still exists.

"Flirting?" Anja eyed Lily and Shirou smugly.

Shirou turned around to see Anja drawing a map on the ground – wait, that's not quite right – more like drawing mana onto the air centimeters above the ground.

"Strategizing?" Shirou guessed upon gazing at the scene that resembled an outdoor strategy meeting, swiftly ignoring Anja's crude comment.

Anja nodded. "We'll need your and Lily's input for this," Anja stated before a wider smug smile made its way up her lips.

Shirou turned back to look at Lily to see her entire face flushed red and her mouth opening and closing incomprehensibly without uttering a single sound. In short, Lily looked like she was having a mental overload and meltdown.

Shirou held back a curse at the phenomenon. From experience, Shirou knew Lily is able to flawlessly misinterpret anything that has an inkling of romantic connotation out of its context and get extremely embarrassed over it. So much so that she is unable to handle such things due to her pure innocence – a direct contrast to her counterpart Alter.

"You just had to do it," Shirou gave a mild glare at Anja, knowing well that she must have done this on purpose to incite a reaction from the poor Servant.

Anja just chuckled quietly as her eyes twinkled with untold joy.

This was going to be a long night for Emiya Shirou.

* * *

Day two of the journey, much like day one, went without any issues as the group of four traversed across the grassy plains of Scandinavia.

"We're almost there," Anja shouted over the howling wind. "It's right up ahead."

Nodding, Shirou continued walking against the powerful wind as if unaffected by the natural force. The clinking and clanking of armor beside him also notified Shirou that both Alter and Lily had changed back to their respective Servant attires in preparation of the upcoming battle that's to be expected.

Hiking up a small hill above them, the outline of the small village ahead began to appear as the sun's afternoon rays shone over the serene settlement.

"Looks much better than I assumed," Anja thought aloud at the sight of the quiet village.

Reinforcing his vision, Shirou scouted the village from afar off as he made a serious contemplating face at the sight. Something was not quite right.

"It's too quiet," Shirou finally said aloud. "Also, I see no one in the village."

Anja scoffed at Shirou's statement. "You can see from this far?"

Shirou turned to eye Anja seriously.

"You're serious," Anja stated monotonously.

"Master Shirou is correct," Lily chimed in. "I see nobody nearby."

"… War," Alter suddenly spoke as she stared at the distant village with her piercing eyes.

"Wha—"

Almost as if on cue, a loud trumpet sounded as it echoed across the windy landscape.

Shirou promptly reinforced his hearing as Shirou barely made out in the howling environment the war cries of fighting men and the scraping claws of the bloodthirsty phantasmal beasts.

"We need to go, now!" Shirou shouted with urgency as he pumped his legs full with mana, ready to rush into the battlefield without delay.

Anja nodded seriously in return as both Alter and Lily followed their Master's orders and began running to the battle scene.

Less than five minutes later, the group of four skidded across the dirt ground to see men and women alike fighting for their lives by using a wall of spears to fend off the phantasmal beasts of goblins approaching them. However, Shirou didn't even need to look twice to know that the people's defenses were quickly crumbling due to their lack of both experience and proper equipment.

"Lily, Alter," Shirou shouted, "exterminate the goblins."

"Yes, Master Shirou," Lily immediately obeyed as she rushed into the battlefield with Caliburn in hand while Alter followed after the flying Lily.

Shirou was about to rush in to see were there any people in dire trouble when a loud roar reverberated across the bloody fields of Gata. The goblins scurried footsteps and gnashing teeth as well as the people's war cries instantly came to a stop when a massive looming figure quaked the earth with its footsteps.

Slowly turning around, Shirou's mouth gaped when the gigantic monster before him revealed itself from the mildly foggy environment. With leather tough green skin and heights easily dwarfing the village houses, Shirou felt his heart slowly drop at the sight. By far, this was the largest phantasmal beast he has ever encountered.

"An ogre," Anja spat out with disdain.

"An ogre?!" Shirou raised his voice in bewilderment. "That," Shirou pointed at the beast for good measures, "is an ogre?!"

Shirou has fought a few ogres in his lifetime, but none of them were even close to the size of the monster before him. At best, the largest ogre Shirou had ever fought hand in hand with is twice his height. But this? This ogre is easily the size of a five-story building!

The ogre then proceeded to pound its mighty chest as it boomed out a guttural roar. Hunching its back, the beast then gripped a nearby tree reaching its waist and swiftly uprooted the plant with ease as he swung the makeshift weapon back and forth menacingly.

"Any ideas?" Anja asked as she gazed at the monstrosity while the dirt attached on the tree's roots rained upon the village inhabitants as the giant continued flailing his weapon randomly.

Yes, Shirou had some ideas. However, all of them required a degree of skill, precision, and mana. In short, if Shirou were to defeat that beast, he needed a Noble Phantasm to aid his endeavor. While Shirou would rather avoid that outcome due having an inkling of suspicion toward the Edelfelt mage, Anja, who somehow has a Servant summoning circle in her home, Shirou still placed people's lives above his personal conveniences.

"Shirou," a cold voice suddenly came to his right as Shirou immediately whirled his head around.

"Ah, Alter," Shirou gave a sigh of relief as his instincts for a second blared at a killing intent emitting out of the black Servant.

"I don't like that," Alter's expression remained stoic and cold as she pointed at the massive ogre.

"Neither do I, Alter. Neither do I," Shirou repeated as he shook his head in dismay. What else was he supposed to say to the enigmatic Servant?

"Can I kill it?" Alter cut straight to the point.

Shirou's eyes widened at the implication behind her clear words. Shirou's gaze slowly traveled down the length of Alter's body as his eyes settled on the jet black blade with red glowing lines pulsing like a blood vessel in her tight grip.

Shirou smiled. This should be interesting. If anything, Alter would be far more capable than he is in killing the beast.

"By all means, Alter. Kill the abomination."

"Yes, Shirou," Alter spoke as her mouth formed a menacing grin. "Now die, mongrel!" Alter screamed as her jet black Excalibur blasted out waves of miasmic mana behind her while Alter performed mana burst straight at her foe, immediately launching her forward with blurring speeds in a split second. The wind instantly changed direction at Alter's supersonic burst as both Anja's and Shirou's hair flew in the direction of the force. The earth immediately caved in at the supernatural force of the Servant as Alter rushed through the battlefield like an unstoppable machine before leaping up in the air as the ground cratered at the inhuman power.

Shooting herself up in the air, Alter gave a final roar worthy of an unyielding tyrant as her blade rocketed forward during midflight at the ogre's shoulder blade, sending a cacophony of explosions in the wake of the swaying plains of Gata.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **In respect of the "goblin year" for anime, I decided to have a goblin scene in this story before 2018 comes to an end. Also, right now I have an ongoing POLL (for two more days) on which story update you would like to see next. You can participate in this poll by going to the top of my profile page – you need a fanfiction account to do this.**

 **A QUESTION a good number of people have been asking is would Shirou have a harem. The short answer is … no. I have heard from a few people who argue that since Lily and Alter are technically the same person – namely Arturia – Shirou engaging a relationship with the both of them wouldn't be actually considered a harem. With all due respect, but the fact that Shirou is still nevertheless dating two individuals – even if they're the "same" person – is still considered a harem under my definition.**

 **However, if things go according to plan, I do hope to write different routes where Shirou has a relationship with one individual at a time – like a visual novel if you could call it that. But, if that doesn't work out, pairings would be left to the readers' decision via poll. If you have any more questions, feel free to write a review about it and I'll be sure to consider your argument.**

 **Lastly, a question a reader is bound to ask is: "Is this story serious or comedic?"**

 **The short answer would be … a mixture of both. While admittingly comedy is not my forte, I still do find it an enjoyable read when a story has some comedic qualities to it.**

 **Of course, if you guys could leave a review, that would be extremely great and helpful! For those who celebrate it, Merry Christmas!** **– SteelBlades333**

 **Next update: Hopefully a** _ **Fate Blade Zero**_ **extra Christmas chapter within the next two days.**

 **After that small update … most likely** _ **Apocryphal Hero**_ **would be next updated by the looks of it now.**


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